Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
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 protect dogs from unregulated canine breeding clinics.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Those operating canine fertility clinics, and owners using their services, are required under The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) to protect the animals involved from harm and to provide for their welfare in line with good practice. A breach of these provisions may lead to imprisonment, a fine, or both.
The 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs which provides owners and keepers with general welfare information, including a specific section on how to protect them from pain, suffering, injury and disease. That section of the Code of Practice recommends owners seek veterinary advice before breeding their dogs and that owners should take all reasonable steps to ensure that they are able to provide the care required during pregnancy.
Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters in a 12-month period needs to have a valid licence from their local authority. Under the 2018 Regulations licencees must achieve and maintain statutory minimum animal welfare standards, linked to the welfare needs of the Animal Welfare Act 2006: Dog breeding licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Fertility clinics which offer the diagnosis of diseases, perform tests for diagnostic purposes, or carry out medical or surgical treatment such as artificial insemination on dogs, are subject to the requirements of The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. The 1966 Act prohibits anyone who is not a veterinary surgeon registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) from undertaking any non-exempt procedure.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of trends in the level of imports on food security and availability in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) was published in December 2021.
The UKFSR is an analysis of statistical data on food security in the UK. The report examines past, current and predicted trends relevant to food security, to present the best available and impartial analysis of food security in the UK, and to lay the groundwork for future Food Security Reports. While constructing the UKFSR, Defra consulted widely with leading food security experts in academia and engaged extensively with Government bodies and the devolved administrations. This information and the statistics used throughout the report informed its key findings.
The Government published its first ever food strategy on 13 June, outlining our plans to transform our food system to ensure it is fit for the future. Food security sits at the heart of the strategy. We want to create a sustainable food system, from farm to fork and catch to plate, seizing on the opportunities before us and ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious and healthier food.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
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 effectiveness of the Government's implementation, management and monitoring of marine protection areas; what assessment he has made of the potential merits of doubling the size of the area under marine protection; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Defra recently laid a report in Parliament setting out progress towards establishing an MPA network (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-protected-areas-network-report-2012-to-2018). This report includes progress that has been made in implementing, managing and monitoring MPAs.
To date, 36% of English waters are protected in MPAs. On its own, the total area of MPAs is not a good measure of the effectiveness of the network. We have published a comprehensive set of ecological network targets that we are working towards:
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/100705_ENG_v10.pdf
and
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research his Department has commissioned on the threats of changes to the (a) temperature, (b) pH and (c) level of carbonate ions in the sea to (i) shellfish and (ii) finfish.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Department has commissioned and contributed towards a range of research on the threats of changes to temperature, pH and carbonate ions in the sea. This includes:
The UK Ocean Acidification research programme (UKOA), which DEFRA contributed towards, and which investigated the threats of ocean acidification through experimental studies and modelling for several finfish and shellfish species.
We commissioned the ‘Placing Ocean Acidification in a wider Fisheries Context’ (PLACID) project which has included studies on commercially important shellfish and finfish. We also commissioned a study on Impacts from Climate Change and Ocean Acidification on Fisheries and Marine Biodiversity. Most recently our contribution to the Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry programme further extends the field work of UKOA and PLACID. Further information on the research we commission is available of the Defra Science Search website.
The UK Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership provides co-ordinated information on threats and research and has included specific report cards on key shellfish and finfish species, as well as ocean acidification.
We also recognise the importance of global research collaboration and have recently supported the establishment of a North East Atlantic Ocean Acidification Hub to co-ordinate and share data, as well as our continued work with the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment (OSPAR) Ocean Acidification group.