Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the number of payments made to farmers by the Rural Payments Agency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
By 31 December, the Rural Payments Agency had made over 107,000 payments worth more than £1.6 billion across the Basic Payments, Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes. This means that 97.9% of farmers had received at least one payment during the first month of the opening of the payment window.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
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 potential impact of the 16-week protection period for the marketing of free-range eggs following the imposition of Government measures to control the spread of avian influenza on poultry farmers that are complying with those marketing rules.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Egg Marketing Standards provides a 16-week derogation period during which the free-range description can be retained on eggs even if hens have been housed.
Defra currently has no plans to review this derogation period. However, in recognition of the pressures the egg sector is currently facing, particularly rising input costs alongside the impacts of Avian Influenza, Defra has granted a concession which will apply if the housing orders that are currently in place in England exceed the 16 week derogation period. This concession will allow producers and packers, on a one-off basis, the option to use either direct print to pack or an affixed label on free-range boxes. Accompanying clear and transparent point of sale signage should also be in place to ensure consumers are not misled and to avoid undermining consumer confidence in the free-range industry.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the compensation protocol and payment scheme for poultry farms found to be affected by avian influenza provides sufficient economic support to those farmers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Upper Bann, on 18 November 2022, PQ UIN 78897.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
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 take steps to increase support for (a) the development of avian influenza vaccines and (b) other research to help tackle the outbreak of that disease.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to invest in avian influenza research and monitors the situation in Europe and globally. Any future decisions on disease control measures, including the use of vaccination, will be based upon the latest scientific, ornithological, and veterinary advice.
In conjunction with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), Defra monitors the development and availability of vaccines for use to protect against avian influenza and as a control measure during avian influenza outbreaks, as they are put forward for marketing authorisation by vaccine manufacturers.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) leads government funded research on animal disease control and alongside the Government’s continued investment in the Avian Influenza National Reference Laboratory and APHA’s Weybridge site, earlier this year an eight-strong consortium ‘FluMap’ led by APHA and funded by Defra and the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC) was launched that received £1.5 million in funding to develop new strategies to tackle avian influenza outbreaks. This year-long research project will help build our understanding in a number of key areas, including why the current virus strains have formed larger and longer outbreaks and understanding transmission and infection in different bird populations. The research gaps addressed by the consortium were identified from the recent STAR-IDAZ International Research Consortium Animal Influenza Research Review and knowledge gaps identified during recent avian influenza outbreaks.
The STAR-IDAZ International Research Consortium is a global initiative aiming to coordinate research programmes at the international level and to contribute to the development of new and improved animal health strategies for priority diseases, infections and issues.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the context of the avian influenza outbreak, if she will hold discussions with her counterparts in devolved governments to encourage the expansion of mandatory housing measures to all poultry and captive birds in Great Britain.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the devolved administrations to assess their disease risks and respond accordingly. However, the UK Government works with the devolved administrations to seek a coordinated response wherever possible to control disease. All four administrations are an integral part of the UK-wide decision-making processes for animal disease outbreaks.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it remains his Department's policy to review the use of cages in farming.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 03 November 2022 to the hon. Member for Glasgow North, PQ UIN 69670.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
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 help ensure the welfare of kept animals (a) imported into and (b) exported from the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
HM Government published a wide-reaching and ambitious Action Plan for Animal Welfare on 12 May 2021, setting out current and future work on animal welfare. Now that we have left the EU, we are making significant changes to domestic law through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, bringing into legislation manifesto commitments to end the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter and to crack down on puppy smuggling.
Through the Bill, HM Government will be banning exports of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and equines for slaughter and fattening on journeys that begin in or transit through the United Kingdom to a third country. The Bill also protects the welfare of pet animals, addressing low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain, including powers to introduce new restrictions, via secondary legislation, on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds.
HM Government is committed to improving the welfare standards of all animal journeys. We have consulted on proposals for improvements to animal welfare in transport and we published the summary of responses and HM Government’s response to this consultation in August 2021. We are now working closely with all interested partners on the detailed issues and evidence, to create workable solutions and good welfare outcomes.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is committed to the continuation of environmental land management schemes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We remain committed to environmental land management and are looking at how best to deliver the schemes to see where and how improvements can be made. We will continue to work closely with the sector in developing the schemes and publish more information by the end of the year.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
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 help ensure the welfare of reindeer being used at seasonal events during winter 2022-23.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) require that anyone in the business of keeping or training animals for exhibition needs a valid licence from their local authority, including reindeer used at seasonal events. Licencees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences.
The 2018 Regulations are accompanied by statutory guidance notes developed to help local authorities enforce the licensing regime. The guidance notes for keeping or training animals for exhibition can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-activities-licensing-guidance-for-local-authorities/keeping-or-training-animals-for-exhibition-licensing-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities
The keeping of dangerous wild animals is also regulated by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. The Act requires owners of dangerous wild animals, as listed in the Act, to be licensed by their Local Authority. A reindeer (with the exception of a domestic reindeer) is classified by the act as a dangerous wild animal. The aim of the Act is to ensure that where private individuals keep dangerous wild animals, they do so in circumstances that create no risk to the public.
A local authority may only grant a licence if it is satisfied that it would not be contrary to public interest on the grounds of safety or nuisance; that the applicant is a suitable person; and the animal's accommodation is adequate and secure.
If anyone has any concerns about the welfare of a reindeer that is being exhibited, they should report the matter to the relevant local authority who have powers to investigate.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
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 reduce the suffering of farmed fish at the time of killing.
Answered by Steve Double
Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
As part of our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are currently considering improvements that could be made to the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing. To inform this work, we have asked the Animal Welfare Committee for advice and this is expected in the autumn.