Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 help tackle the illegal trapping and hunting of live foxes.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.
Foxes are not protected for conservation purposes in England. Cage traps and snares can lawfully be used to trap foxes. Anyone using cage traps or snares has a responsibility under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to act within the law to ensure their activities do not cause any unnecessary suffering. For instance, snares and cage traps must be checked at least once a day to prevent a captured fox (or non-target species) suffering. This government takes wildlife crime seriously and there are strong penalties in place for offences committed against wildlife. An industry-owned code of practice for the use of snares to control foxes in England sets out clear principles for the legal use of snares, using evidence from snare-use research to improve snare deployment and design.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 she has had with food producers on potential food shortages in the context of the drought in Spain.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
In February, some supermarkets applied item limits to a small number of fruit and vegetables due to poor weather affecting the harvest in Spain and North Africa. Supply is now at a manageable level due to improvements in supply from these regions, imports from the Netherlands and produce from domestic harvests becoming available.
We are aware that parts of Spain are facing drought conditions. However, 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 61% 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.
Defra is closely monitoring markets and supply chains to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures and is considering how government and industry can work together to mitigate them, in the short and longer term.
For example, I met with major retailers on 27 February to discuss supply issues, their procurement contracts with growers and how to work together to find solutions.
In addition, on 3 March, I also visited Thanet Earth to discuss the opportunities and challenges for growers within the horticulture sector. Defra has been engaging with primary producers and trade associations such as the British Growers Association, to assess potential risks to the supply of fruit and vegetables.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 implications for his policies of the Climate Change Committee report entitled Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk, published in June 2021; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK's preparation and adaption measures for extreme weather.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government accepted the findings of the Climate Change Committee’s Independent Assessment of Climate Risk 2021 and these were incorporated into the Government’s Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), which was laid in Parliament in January 2022. The Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) will respond to these findings and will be published in 2023. NAP3 will set out the policies and actions taken across Government to respond to all of the 61 climate risks and opportunities identified in CCRA3.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 impact of increases to water bills in 2023 on household finances.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Water bills will increase by an average of 7.5% or £31 due to the rate of inflation. I am very mindful that consumers are concerned about their bills. Government expects all water companies to make sure customers are aware of the schemes that are available if they need support to pay their bills. This includes bill discount schemes, payment holidays, adjusting payment plans and getting support for customers on managing their personal finances.
I encourage customers to access the Consumer Council for Water’s Advice Hub, which has information and useful tools to help customers reduce their bills or access financial support.
To support people with the cost of living, Government have put in place a substantial package of support. Further information can be found here: Cost of living support - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 legislative steps to prohibit online retailers from (a) listing for sale and (b) dispatching live animals.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 anyone who is in the business of selling animals as pets or breeding and selling dogs needs a valid licence from their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences. Any licensee advertising animals for sale will need to include their licence number in the advert and specify the local authority who issued the licence. Advertisements must also include the age of the animal for sale displayed alongside a recognisable photograph.
Legislation protects all animals from being transported in a way likely to cause injury or suffering. Transportation of vertebrate animals for a commercial purpose must comply fully with legal requirements aimed at protecting their welfare, set out in Regulation (EC) 1/2005 (as retained). Vertebrate animals transported for non-commercial purposes and invertebrates are protected from injury or unnecessary suffering by a general duty of care provision in Article 4 of The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 (WATEO) and equivalent national legislation in Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with stakeholders in the supermarket sector on trends in the level of food inflation.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra officials have regular discussions with food retailers about a range of issues, including the impact of food price inflation.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle rises in the level of food inflation.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra officials have regular discussions with food retailers about a range of issues, including the impact of food price inflation.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 potential impact of new Investment Zones on legal protections for national parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and green belt land.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra and DLUHC are working closely together on Investment Zone policy to support our growth objectives and maintain HM Government’s strong position on the environment. We are not weakening our environmental ambition either at home or abroad and remain committed to Net Zero by 2050 and delivering on the Environment Act, including setting a new legally binding target to halt the decline of species abundance in England by 2030.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 it his policy to ban (a) supertrawlers, (b) fly shooters and (c) all other types of destructive fishing in Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Marine Management Organisation and the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities assess on a site-by-site basis which fishing activities could prevent them from achieving their conservation objectives.
'Supertrawlers' generally target pelagic species of fish within the water column and are unlikely to interact with the seabed habitats, such as reef and sediment habitats, for which most MPAs are designated. Some other types of fishing such as bottom trawling and fly-shooting interact with the seabed and are therefore likely to impact seabed habitats. The compatibility of these activities will depend on the features protected in each site. If the site assessments conclude that this type of fishing poses a risk to the conservation objectives of a MPA, the relevant regulator would implement management measures.
Regulators follow an evidence-led process to determine what management is required to protect sites and to not unduly restrict legitimate fishing activity. 98 MPAs in English inshore waters already have byelaws in place to protect sensitive features from damaging fishing activities and the first four English offshore byelaws have now been established. A Call for Evidence on byelaws in 13 more MPAs has recently closed. We aim to have protection in place for all our English offshore MPAs by 2024.
In July, we launched a consultation on five candidate Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) in English waters. With the highest level of protection in England's seas to enable the ecosystem to fully recover, many activities including commercial and recreational fishing would be prohibited. HPMAs would complement the existing MPA network. Any HPMAs that HM Government decides to designate following the consultation would be designated by July 2023.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 had recent discussions with the Environment Agency on the detection of poliovirus in London sewage works.
Answered by Steve Double
The UK Heath Security Agency is leading the investigation and response to the poliovirus detected in sewage samples collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works.