Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding he has allocated to air pollution alert systems in each of the last three years; and what steps he has taken to locate those systems in (a) schools, (b) hospitals and (c) nurseries.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Air quality is a devolved matter.
In England, the government is committed to making sure the best independent evidence and information on pollution events is available to the public. As part of this commitment a five-day air quality forecast service from the Met Office is available to the public on Defra’s UK Air website. It provides up-to-date information on air pollution, and alerts during periods of elevated pollution. The latest real world measurements from monitoring sites are also available. The cost of providing this forecasting and dissemination platform is just over £1m.
The national network of air quality monitors currently comprises 282 sites across the UK and is managed by the Environment Agency. Sites are organised into networks that gather information for a wide range of pollutants in towns and cities as well as in rural areas. Monitoring stations for key pollutants are sited in accordance with criteria set out in the EU Air Quality Directive to ensure measurements are representative and also comparable across all member states. The 9 National monitoring networks cost just under £6m per year to operate.
As part of the Clean Air Strategy we are looking at providing a messaging system to inform the public about the air quality forecast, providing clearer information on air pollution episodes and accessible health advice.
Local authorities also have requirements to monitor air pollution.
The government provides guidance, including helpdesk advice, to local authorities on the appropriate type of monitoring to install. Where local authorities conduct air quality monitoring, they are expected to site monitors in accordance with local and national priorities, which may include schools and other locations where there is high risk of public exposure.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated to (a) school behaviour change programmes and (b) other projects designed to protect children's health from air pollution in each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Air quality is a devolved matter. Local authorities can bid for additional government funding via the air quality grant fund for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses and residents. In 2016/17, the London Borough of Islington was awarded £50,000 to run a local school-focused awareness and engagement campaign through the air quality grant.
Local authorities have a duty to monitor and assess air quality and to take action to reduce pollution where these breach statutory limits, and are best placed to determine local priorities. Their local knowledge and interaction with the communities that they serve means that they know the issues on the ground in detail and the solutions that are best suited to local circumstances.
The government awarded a total of £2.4 million to local authorities from the 2017/18 air quality grant fund; £3.7 million was awarded to local authorities in 2016/17 and £0.5 million in 2015/16. £3 million has been allocated for 2018/19.
The government has also put in place a £3.5 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions, which includes £475 million for councils to improve air quality. We have consulted on our Clean Air Strategy, which includes ambitious goals, legislation, investment and policies which will help us to clean up our air faster and more effectively.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to open to public consultation the draft Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra consulted on proposals to review the existing animal activities licensing regime in 2015-16. In July 2016 we published a summary of responses, and in February 2017 we published our Next Steps document which outlined our proposals following the consultation responses. Since then we have been working with representatives of key stakeholders to develop the new regulations. The draft regulations will now be laid in early 2018.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote in-ovo gender identification techniques in the poultry industry in the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
Alternatives to culling chicks at one-day old are currently being explored. The University of Leipzig in Germany is developing a new method for in-ovo gender identification, so that eggs identified as male can be sorted and used for purposes other than hatching. This issue was the subject of discussion at a G7 meeting of Farming Ministers in Japan in 2016, where I supported the work and offered UK assistance to build on any results. We will look carefully at the results of this work and how it can be applied to the UK’s poultry industry.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prohibit the third party sale of puppies and kittens.
Answered by George Eustice
We have no plans for a ban on third party sellers. We are taking steps to ensure more robust licensing of pet sellers. To that end, new regulations on animal activity licensing will set statutory minimum welfare standards for all commercial pet sellers in England that the local authority must apply when considering whether to issue a licence.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what timetable the Government has set for introducing legislation to increase the maximum sentence for animal cruelty offences to five years' imprisonment.
Answered by George Eustice
As announced on 30 September, a bill to increase the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences to five years imprisonment will be published for consultation around the turn of the year. We will welcome comments from animal welfare charities who have campaigned for this change.