Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 23 Oct 2020
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill
"It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish). I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Chris Loder) on his success in his first ever private Members’ Bill ballot and on having chosen a subject that is obviously dear …..."Christopher Chope - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 23 Oct 2020
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill
"I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for putting that fair and square on the record. So he exercised self-discipline, and I must congratulate him on that. We will live in hope, as the hon. Member for Bristol East said, about when, if ever, the Government bring forward some …..."Christopher Chope - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 23 Oct 2020
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill
"Absolutely. I agree that the deterrent effect of legislation is a very important aspect of it. However, there is nothing clear as to what the evidence is on that. One of the shortcomings of private Members’ Bills is that there are no procedures to enable us to have a regulatory …..."Christopher Chope - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 23 Oct 2020
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill
"Obviously, I accept that raising the maximum penalty from six months to five years is quite a dramatic change, although it is significant, as is clear from the notes, that the Government could have doubled it from six months to one year if they had implemented section 281(5) of the …..."Christopher Chope - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 23 Oct 2020
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill
"Well, that is another one on the agenda for the next Session of Parliament, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I will just conclude by saying that there is another element to this: the Sentencing Council guidelines for dealing with animal welfare offences. They say that a period of imprisonment should be merited …..."Christopher Chope - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 23 Oct 2020
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill
"I am not expecting them at all. I am criticising the fact that they are no longer just regarded as guidelines, but accepted by many magistrates and judges as tantamount to instructions. If my hon. Friend looks at the sentencing guidelines for animal welfare, which I commend to him, he …..."Christopher Chope - View Speech
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Written Question
Monday 4th May 2020
Asked by:
Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Horticultural Trade Association on the (a) re-opening of garden centres and (b) effect of the closure of garden centres on small horticultural suppliers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government is keeping the situation on garden centres under review but concluded last week that it was too early to ease any restrictions on such retail environments. We will continue to work closely with representatives from the horticulture supply chain, including the HTA, to understand what short-term and long-term support the sector as a whole needs.
At all times we have been consistently guided by scientific advice to protect lives and we will continue to work together on how best to ease measures when the time is right to do so.
Written Question
Monday 4th May 2020
Asked by:
Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether visits to a household recycling centre in England are categorised as necessary travel; and if he will take steps to prevent police intercepting vehicles travelling to such centres.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government is working with local authorities to explore ways in which household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) that have been closed might be re-opened and we expect to publish further guidance on this shortly. The guidance will clarify the circumstances under which a trip to the HWRC might be justified.
Police enforcement does not apply in circumstances where travel is classified as reasonable or necessary. Therefore journeys to a HWRC, made in accordance with the forthcoming guidance, will be allowed. The police are aware of the proposed guidance.
Written Question
Monday 2nd March 2020
Asked by:
Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees were felled in Dorset in response to instructions from Natural England that the felling was necessary to maintain heathland in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many trees are to be felled in 2020.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
A number of habitat restoration schemes were undertaken in Dorset associated with the restoration of lowland heathlands SSSI. Heathland is a nationally scarce habitat supporting rare species and, uniquely to Dorset, all our native reptile species. The restoration works have included some felling of trees, predominately commercially planted pine.
The Forestry Commission advises that in Dorset around 50.7ha of woodland has been felled for heathland restoration since January 2019, based on areas given permission through felling licences. This is not easily translatable to numbers of trees and the Forestry Commission does not have sight of future activity.
The works are part of agreed management undertaken by SSSI owners. Natural England supports the actions undertaken by SSSI owners to restore these sites in line with the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan.
Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 25 Feb 2020
Landfill Sites: Odour
"Order. Because of a Division in the House, the sitting is suspended for 15 minutes...."Christopher Chope - View Speech
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