Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to implement emissions charges programmes in areas of the country outside London which have reported illegal levels of air pollution.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green, Catherine West, on 19 October 2017, PQ 108834.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of unlicensed (a) dog breeding and (b) pet shops in the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not hold official statistics on the number of dog breeders and pet shops operating without a licence. Defra is currently in the process of developing a new single animal activities licensing regime. The regulations will be laid in Parliament before they come into force next year. The new regime will reduce the threshold by which people will need a dog breeding licence from five litters or more per year to three litters or more per year. This should result in more dog breeders requiring a licence. The new regime will make it clear for local authorities which individual activities need to be licensed.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many investigations into unlicensed (a) dog breeding and (b) pet shops have led to a prosecution in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
Twenty defendants were proceeded against at magistrates’ courts for offences under Breeding and Sale of Dogs Act from 2012 to 2016. Of these, one defendant is listed as being a pet shop.
Twenty-four defendants were proceeded against for offences related to failing to comply with the conditions of a pet shop licence.
These figures relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same penalty is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State of 30 March 2017, Official Report, column 480-2, on animal welfare, whether she plans to strengthen legislation on animal cruelty.
Answered by George Eustice
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) provides clear offences relating to animal cruelty. One strength of the 2006 Act is that anyone can take out a prosecution. This has been a powerful tool in promoting animal welfare. In 2015, 936 people were sentenced for animal cruelty offences under the 2006 Act, of which 91 were given an immediate custodial sentence.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average sentence served has been by people convicted of animal cruelty in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The table below provides the average custodial sentence length for offences under s4 (causing unnecessary suffering) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 for each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Year | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Average custodial sentence length (months) | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State of 30 March 2017, Official Report, column 480-2, on animal welfare, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals prohibiting puppy farms.
Answered by George Eustice
Commercial dog breeders already require a licence from their local authority in order to operate. The Government has reviewed these controls and has proposed that all licensed dog breeders comply with up to date animal welfare standards. We have also proposed to lower the threshold by which dog breeders will need a licence to three litters a year. Anyone breaching animal welfare standards risks having their licence revoked.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to amend the private sewer transfer regulations to allow residents of small flat complexes to transfer ownership of their existing private sewerage systems to regulated water companies.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There are no current plans to amend the Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011, which provided for the transfer of eligible private sewers and lateral drains to water and sewerage companies on 1 October 2011 and the transfer of pumping stations on 1 October 2016.
The last Government carried out an extensive review of private sewer ownership, including a full public consultation on the draft regulations. The issues raised during the consultation were considered in preparing the final regulations.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to amend the private sewer transfer regulations to bring all remaining private sewerage systems under the ownership of regulated water companies.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There are no current plans to amend the Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011, which provided for the transfer of eligible private sewers and lateral drains to water and sewerage companies on 1 October 2011 and the transfer of pumping stations on 1 October 2016.
The last Government carried out an extensive review of private sewer ownership, including a full public consultation on the draft regulations. The issues raised during the consultation were considered in preparing the final regulations.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to amend the private sewer transfer regulations to allow the transfer of private sewerage pumps to be regulated water companies by residents in a different curtilage.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There are no current plans to amend the Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011, which provided for the transfer of eligible private sewers and lateral drains to water and sewerage companies on 1 October 2011 and the transfer of pumping stations on 1 October 2016.
The last Government carried out an extensive review of private sewer ownership, including a full public consultation on the draft regulations. The issues raised during the consultation were considered in preparing the final regulations.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to tackle high levels of air pollution (a) in and (b) outside of London.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Last year, the Government published the conclusions to its Vehicle Emissions Testing Programme, which provided a valuable insight into diesel car emissions on our roads. Research found higher levels of nitrogen oxides emissions in test track and real world driving conditions for a range of the best-selling passenger diesel cars compared to laboratory testing. The conclusions of this investigation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vehicle-emissions-testing-programme-conclusions
In addition, an assessment of the scale of the air quality problem and its sources within specific regions across the UK was set out in the Government’s 2015 national air quality plan for NO2 and accompanying zone plans, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/air-quality-plan-for-nitrogen-dioxide-no2-in-uk-2015
The Mayor of London has responsibility for achieving air quality standards and objectives in London. The Mayor provides the framework and guidance which boroughs use to review and improve air quality within their areas.
The former Mayor announced the Ultra Low Emission Zone back in 2015.
The current Mayor has recently consulted on the introduction of an Emissions Surcharge (the so-called “T-charge”) for older, more polluting vehicles driving into and within central London. Later this year he has indicated his intention to consult on proposals to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone out to the North and South Circular Roads and bring forward its introduction earlier than 2020, along with other measures to improve air quality in London.
More widely, the Government is firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions. That is why we have committed over £2 billion since 2011 to reduce transport emissions and the Autumn Statement provided a further £290 million to support greener transport. In light of both updated information on real world emissions from diesel vehicles and the High Court judgement last year, we will be publishing a revised air quality plan for consultation by 24 April and a final plan by 31 July.
In addition, we are developing the Air Pollution Action Plan. This is to tackle the five main pollutants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia and fine particulate matter. The UK has agreed legally binding national ceilings for emissions of these pollutants by 2020 and 2030. The Government is considering how all sectors of the UK economy can contribute to these ambitious targets.