Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 his Department has had with international zoological facilities on future regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority. 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.
To this end, we have been generally engaging with stakeholders domestically and internationally and are currently exploring several options.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 his Department has had with international zoological accreditation and certification bodies on future regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority. 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.
To this end, we have been generally engaging with stakeholders domestically and internationally and are currently exploring several options.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 adequacy of the Environment Agency's feedback to members of the public who report environmental incidents.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An Environment Agency local team can choose to give feedback or request further information regarding an incident if needed, but the Environment Agency Information Communications Service (ICS) who receive reports of environmental incidents from the public, will not provide feedback.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 30 January 2024 to Question 11649 on Aquaculture: Shellfish, what steps his Department is taking to challenge the EU's restrictions on undepurated Class B live bivalve molluscs; and (b) through what mechanism those challenges are made.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have challenged the EU's restrictions on undepurated Class B live bivalve molluscs through the mechanisms provided by the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). These include the TCA SPS Committee, TCA Partnership Council and Trade Partnership Committee. Minutes of these Committees can be found at Trade and Cooperation Agreement Governance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 support the shellfish aquaculture industry.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2021, the Government has awarded £22.3 million to support the shellfish aquaculture industry in areas such as improving sustainability, preventing shellfish disease, and better skills and training.
The Government's Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan prioritises action to improve the water quality of 63 of the largest shellfish waters in England by 2030.
The Government continues to challenge the EU's restrictions on undepurated Class B live bivalve molluscs which we believe are unjustified and disproportionate to the risk under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications were received to the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme; what proportion of applications were successful; and how much funding was (a) allocated and (b) remains for allocation.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS) has had two distinct phases. Initially, we launched FaSS in April 2021 for one year, during which 529 applications were received, 98% (522) of which were successful and £8.5 million was allocated and spent. The scheme was relaunched in April 2022 and since then 815 applications have been received, 99% (808) of which were successful and £18 million has been allocated. This is in excess of the c. £12 million we originally allocated as a result of our efforts to keep the scheme open as long as possible. Unfortunately, we were still unable to fund new FaSS applications throughout 2023-24 and the scheme has now closed to new applications. FaSS will reopen in 2024 with a budget of £5 million to be allocated.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the outcomes of the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The FaSS is currently undergoing an independent evaluation lasting initially for two years. The evaluation will assess the scheme’s administration and management, impact of the funding and the value for money of the scheme.
The evaluation is ongoing, but preliminary reporting shows the FaSS has had a broad contribution to increasing economic sustainability and resilience across the fisheries and seafood sectors. Feedback from the evaluation has already been acted upon by fund managers to ensure delivery is effective as possible and to maximise benefits. A full report with a detailed assessment will be published in 2024.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 paragraph on Meetings in the Storm Overflows Taskforce Terms of Reference, how many times the Storm Overflows Taskforce has met since its introduction; and when the taskforce (a) last met and (b) is due to meet next.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Storm Overflows Task Force was set up in 2020 with the objective of developing proposals to reduce the frequency and impact of sewage discharges. The Taskforce supported the design and development of the Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. This was published in August 2022. The Task Force has therefore not met since as it has met its initial goal in the publication of the Plan. We intend to seek the input of the Taskforce in future when reviewing the delivery programme of the Plan as part of the next water industry Price Review which will commence in 2025.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 her Department has had with European counterparts on the resumption of exports to the EU of shellfish harvested in Class B waters.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government continues to challenge the restrictions imposed by the European Union on the import of undepurated Live Bivalve Molluscs from Class B waters. Most recently, the UK tabled this issue at the Trade Partnership Committee held on 1st December 2022, and again at the Partnership Council meeting between the Foreign Secretary and European Commission Vice-President on 24th March 2023. The minutes for the Trade Partnership Committee can be found on GOV.UK. The EU’s response to the UK’s challenge is that they will not resume trade in these commodities as they do not trade in them with any third country. The EU has recently responded to our requests for a risk assessment underpinning their position. This response is currently under consideration.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she makes of the potential impact of discharge from storm overflows on the quality of shellfish harvesting waters.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency will require water companies to review what action is needed in the identified 63 priority shellfish areas, whether that is improvement, prevention of deterioration or investigation. This will lead to reductions in sewage discharges from storm overflows and disinfection of treated sewage.
Where the results of monitoring indicate any event which has increased faecal contamination in an area, prompt action is taken to protect public health either by pausing harvesting or introducing additional controls on shellfish from the area.