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, if his Department will conduct a public consultation on the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the commercial sale of fur in the UK after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products, which cannot be legally imported into the UK. These include fur from cats and dogs, seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Legislation has prohibited farming of animals for their fur since 2000 in England and Wales, and 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In addition, we do not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards. Where fur is from an endangered species protected through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), its import or trade will be subject to CITES controls.
During the transition period it is not possible to introduce restrictions relating to the fur trade. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established, we will have the opportunity to consider further steps we could take in relation to fur sales.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits on enabling (a) sheep and (b) goat farmers to access the Dairy Response Fund 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We continue to monitor the impact of the Covid-19 disruption on all sectors and dairy producers and are committed to providing support. Dairy producers are eligible for a range of support, including the Covid-19 Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, deferral of VAT payments, and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme. The Bounce Back Loan Scheme will ensure that the smallest businesses can access up to £50,000 loans with a Government 100% guarantee on each loan, to give lenders the confidence they need to support the smallest businesses in the country. We will also cover the first 12 months of interest payments and fees charged to the business by the lender.
Businesses in England can also apply for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, which supports small and micro businesses with fixed property costs that are not eligible for other grant schemes, and which have suffered a significant fall in income due to Covid-19.
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 his Department's timetable is for the implementation of the provisions of the Ivory Act 2018.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We welcome the Court of Appeal’s ruling last month upholding the world-leading Ivory Act against a claim brought by a part of the antiques industry. The Government is committed to bringing the ivory ban into force as soon as practicable.
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 his Department's consultation entitled Non-elephant ivory trade: call for evidence which closed on 22 August 2019, what progress his Department has made on responding to that consultation.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We received 35 responses to the call for evidence on the non-elephant ivory trade. We are currently considering the evidence on the non-elephant ivory trade. A summary of the responses will be published in due course.
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 environmental sustainability in the fashion and textile industries.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the landmark Resources and Waste Strategy for England (2018), the Government committed to develop policy measures to promote sustainable practices in the clothing and textiles industries. We are continuing to work with industry through WRAP on the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), and are currently engaged in developing an ambitious new phase of the voluntary agreement for 2021-2030. The most recent figures show that between 2012 and 2018 signatories to the SCAP reduced their water and carbon footprints by 18.1% and 13.4% respectively.
We are seeking enabling powers in the Environment Bill to introduce ecodesign and product information requirements, subject to consultation. Through secondary legislation these requirements could be applied to support durable, repairable, and recyclable textiles. We also identified textiles in the Resources and Waste Strategy as a priority area on which to consult for an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.
We are supporting the textiles reuse and recycling sector, which has experienced particular challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, through the WRAP-administered Resource Action Fund. The textiles fund makes a total of £1.5 million available, for small grants of £20 000 to £170 000. Our plans to promote sustainable practices in the textiles sector will be built on and enhanced in a new Waste Prevention Programme, which is currently in development.
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 he is taking to encourage the practice of regenerative agriculture.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Countryside Stewardship is delivering on the Government’s ambition of protecting and improving the natural environment by supporting 30,000 farmers, foresters and land owners to carry out environmental works.
The focus of the scheme is on conserving and restoring wildlife habitats, managing flood risk, reducing water pollution and planting woodland.
As of December 2019, 2.83 million hectares of land was under an agri-environment agreement and 2,700 hectares of new woodland had been planted under the scheme.
Farmers and other land managers who sign up to new Countryside Stewardship agreements during the Transition Period will be well-placed in the future to participate in the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, subject to successfully applying.
ELM will be the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy. Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions, while supporting our rural economy.
Farmers and other land managers may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering the following public goods set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan:
Beyond agriculture, nature-based solutions are key to tackling climate change and averting its impacts. The UK Government is deploying such solutions to improve our natural environment.
Where nature-based solutions contribute towards the delivery of these public goods, they may be funded by ELM. We will determine in more detail what ELM will pay for as we further develop the scheme and are engaging with stakeholders to inform this.
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 he plans to take to support fishermen who have missed out on the Fisheries Response Fund as a result of delays caused with registering boats due to new software at the Registry of Shipping and Seaman.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We are in the process of finalising an appeals process with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), which is responsible for delivering the scheme. The appeals process will allow those who meet the eligibility criteria but who have not been identified in the original contact period, due to data being unavailable, to contact the MMO and request their case be reviewed.
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 allocate covid-19 funding to charter-boat businesses.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has provided an unprecedented package of support measures to help businesses across the UK impacted by COVID-19, and at this stage we do not feel that specific support for the waterways sector would be appropriate. However, because the COVID-19 impacts felt in some sectors may be, or become, more acute than others, we are monitoring the impact that measures are having in supporting public services, businesses and individuals. We are also keeping all decisions under review.