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 animal charities on the theft of (a) pedigree and (b) other cats.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The cross-Government Pet Theft Taskforce published their findings in September 2021 with input from animal welfare groups and experts in relevant fields including the issue of cat theft.
We would be supportive of legislation on pet abduction when parliamentary time allows. We have listened carefully to views expressed on the pet abduction measures during the passage of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill including adding cats. We will take this feedback into consideration when delivering this measure.
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 is taking steps to improve the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter.
Answered by Mark Spencer
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.
Acting on recommendations from the 2021 Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 my department asked the Animal Welfare Committee to update its 2014 Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and we are studying their recommendations carefully to determine next steps.
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 representatives of the water industry on reducing the discharge of sewage into (a) rivers, (b) seas and (c) lakes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra ministers meet with representatives of the water industry regularly to discuss a range of environmental delivery priorities for water companies. This includes six monthly meetings with underperforming companies and quarterly meetings with the CEO of Water UK – the trade association representing the water industry in the UK.
Alongside this, ministers also have quarterly meetings with the chair and CEO of Ofwat to discuss performance of the sector and Ofwat enforcement, including on the reduction of sewage discharges.
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 increase public awareness of the correct way to recycle disposable vapes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government is very concerned about the environmental impacts of disposable vapes and will shortly publish a response to its call for evidence on vaping which close in June. All electrical waste should be properly disposed and recycled to protect our environment. This includes disposable vapes.
Retailers that sell over £100,000 of electrical equipment per year are obliged to provide in-store takeback of electrical items, including vapes, under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations. Smaller businesses can choose to contribute funds to the distributor takeback scheme instead to ensure vapes are recycled correctly. All vapes that are deposited at household waste and recycling centres will be collected and treated and the costs of doing this will be met by vape producers.
Consumers that wish to dispose of their old vapes should either take them to their local authority household waste recycling centre or to a retailer who sells vapes, if they offer in-store take-back, for onward treatment.
Material Focus is running a UK-wide campaign to make it easier for everyone recycle their unwanted electricals, including vapes. They provide an electricals recycling locator, which shows the nearest location for consumers to recycle their unwanted electricals.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan sets out our plan to review rules for waste electricals this year. As part of this, we will consider what changes in legislation are needed to make it simpler for householders to recycle their unwanted electricals, including vapes.
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 her Department’s planned timetable is for concluding its consultation on introducing penalty notices for animal health and welfare offences in England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The consultation for introducing penalty notices for animal health and welfare offences in England will conclude on 20th July 2023. This will be followed by Government’s response to the consultation.
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 make it her policy to end experimentation on animals in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Home Office is responsible for animal testing. The Home Secretary made a statement which can be found here.
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, when she plans to bring forward regulations to implement section 115 of the Environment Act 2021 to require local highway authorities to consult members of the public before felling street trees.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We are currently developing appropriate guidance for the new Duty to Consult and will be seeking to commence the measure later this year.
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 is taking steps to reduce the importation of dogs with cropped ears.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill includes powers to introduce restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on how these powers should be used, including proposals to ban the import of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails. We are currently analysing the replies to this consultation and will publish our response in due course.
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 make an assessment of the adequacy of legislation to (a) prohibit the trapping and hunting of live foxes and (b) prevent all forms of cruelty to 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 steps her Department is taking to (a) help tackle illegal fox hunting and (b) prevent all forms of cruelty to 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.