Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 ban electronic shock collars for pets.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations will make it an offence to attach an electronic shock collar to a cat or dog, or to be in possession of a remote-control device capable of activating such a collar when attached to a cat or dog. The regulations have been considered in the House of Lords and will be considered by the House of Commons in due course. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment their Department has made of the potential effect of the merger between Three and Vodafone on their Department's contracts with Vodafone.
Answered by Mark Spencer
As an open economy, this Government welcomes and encourages investment where it supports the Prime Minister’s goal of boosting UK growth and jobs, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. The Government has robust powers under the National Security & Investment Act, which it introduced, to block or impose remedies on transactions that pose a national security risk.
As the hon. Member will appreciate, we cannot comment on specific acquisitions nor the applicability of the National Security and Investment regime.
It is the responsibility of Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.
The Investment Security Unit works closely with the CMA on cases that are being considered for both national security and competition reasons. A memorandum of understanding has been agreed between the Investment Security Unit and the CMA to assist joint working. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/operation-of-the-national-security-and-investment-act-2021-memorandum-of-understanding/mou-between-beis-and-the-cma-on-the-operation-of-the-national-security-and-investment-act-2021
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the threshold for statutory noise nuisance for commercial properties.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively in order to promote good health and quality of life.
We do not consider it appropriate to issue guidance on resolving noise nuisance complaints about commercial properties. Local authorities are the main enforcers of the statutory noise nuisance regime under Environmental Protection Act 1990, and decisions around resolving noise nuisance complaints are best taken by them using their knowledge of the specific context.
There is no formal threshold in place for assessing noise nuisance from commercial properties. It is not possible to have a single objective noise-based measure that is applicable to all sources of noise in all situations, as effect levels are likely to be different for different noise sources, different people and at different times. However, owners of industrial, trade and business premises are expected to use the best practicable means available to minimise noise from their premises and operations.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has issued recent guidance on resolving noise nuisance complaints about commercial properties when the local authority finds that criteria for statutory noise nuisance is not being met.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively in order to promote good health and quality of life.
We do not consider it appropriate to issue guidance on resolving noise nuisance complaints about commercial properties. Local authorities are the main enforcers of the statutory noise nuisance regime under Environmental Protection Act 1990, and decisions around resolving noise nuisance complaints are best taken by them using their knowledge of the specific context.
There is no formal threshold in place for assessing noise nuisance from commercial properties. It is not possible to have a single objective noise-based measure that is applicable to all sources of noise in all situations, as effect levels are likely to be different for different noise sources, different people and at different times. However, owners of industrial, trade and business premises are expected to use the best practicable means available to minimise noise from their premises and operations.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 plans to issue national guidance to all Police forces on following the Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs initiative.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government takes the issue of dog attacks extremely seriously and we are determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership. The Government supports local preventative approaches to encourage responsible dog ownership of all breeds of dog, such as the Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs (LEAD) initiative.
The Middlesex University report on responsible dog ownership, which will be published shortly, identified the LEAD initiative as a model of preventative best practice for low level dog control issues. Defra liaises regularly with the police on dog control issues, and is giving careful consideration to the report and its recommendations, which will provide the basis for potential further reform in this area.