Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
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 plans to take to ensure that the ban on the use of microbeads, announced by her Department on 3 September 2016, is comprehensive and effective; and if she will inform the House of the lessons learned from the ban on those products in the US.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We are currently running a consultation on our proposals which end on 28th February 2017. The US ban has not yet come into force, but we will continue to monitor its progress and look to learn any lessons from its approach.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to prevent any person convicted of animal abuse from owning an animal.
Answered by George Eustice
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 already allows courts to make a disqualification order in respect of someone who has been found guilty of causing any unnecessary suffering to an animal. It is for the courts to decide whether to make such an order and, if so, for how long based on the individual circumstances of the case. If a court decides not to impose such an order, it must give its reasons in open court. I consider, therefore, that the courts have the necessary powers to impose appropriate penalties in relation to acts of animal cruelty
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support her Department offers to people affected by overpowering odour escapes from landfill sites.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The permits issued to landfill operators by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 regulations include conditions covering the management of odour. Operators of landfill sites are required to take appropriate measures to prevent odour pollution or minimise it when prevention is not practicable.
In addition, as landfill sites are likely to give rise to odour problems operators are often required to submit an Odour Management Plan (OMP) for approval to the Environment Agency. The provisions in a site’s OMP, once it is approved, are treated as part of the permit and must be complied with.
The Environment Agency undertakes routine monitoring to verify compliance with permit conditions and will respond to and investigate public complaints about odour. The Environment Agency will consider enforcement action to ensure compliance with permit conditions in accordance with its published guidance on enforcement and sanctions.
Environmental permitting will usually provide sufficient protection against overpowering odour from landfill sites. If not, Local Authorities also have powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to take action against smell from industry, trade or business premises if found to be a statutory nuisance.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the inspection regime is for ensuring that hens are housed in conditions compliant with relevant EU directives.
Answered by George Eustice
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) enforces the relevant welfare legislation and carries out welfare inspections on farms to check that the UK legislation, which implements European law, is being followed. This includes spot checks and planned risk based inspections.
In addition, a programme of inspections is carried out under EU cross compliance legislation to farmers that claim cross-compliance subsidies. The APHA also enforce the requirement for owners or other responsible persons to inspect their hens at least once a day.
Our expert advisory committee, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, has concluded that stockmanship, and the correct application of husbandry standards, whatever the system of production, is key to ensuring good welfare for farmed animals. This view is relevant to all livestock, whether in intensive or extensive production systems. The EU Commission’s Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare recognised that there is a wide variety of enriched cage designs for laying hens, and that the layout of some cages can affect bird inspection. Both the EU Commission in its 2008 report on the welfare of laying hens in various systems and the Farm Animal Welfare Committee recognise the welfare benefits of enriched cages and have given their support to this system of production.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the dependency that hen welfare has on the frequency of human attention regardless of the position of the cages in which they are kept.
Answered by George Eustice
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) enforces the relevant welfare legislation and carries out welfare inspections on farms to check that the UK legislation, which implements European law, is being followed. This includes spot checks and planned risk based inspections.
In addition, a programme of inspections is carried out under EU cross compliance legislation to farmers that claim cross-compliance subsidies. The APHA also enforce the requirement for owners or other responsible persons to inspect their hens at least once a day.
Our expert advisory committee, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, has concluded that stockmanship, and the correct application of husbandry standards, whatever the system of production, is key to ensuring good welfare for farmed animals. This view is relevant to all livestock, whether in intensive or extensive production systems. The EU Commission’s Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare recognised that there is a wide variety of enriched cage designs for laying hens, and that the layout of some cages can affect bird inspection. Both the EU Commission in its 2008 report on the welfare of laying hens in various systems and the Farm Animal Welfare Committee recognise the welfare benefits of enriched cages and have given their support to this system of production.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to introduce in the rest of the UK the General Licence Restriction Order for the protection of birds in use in Scotland; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The introduction of a new regulatory measure requires evidence that it will be effective.
We will monitor the situation in Scotland to consider whether this measure is necessary and proportionate to assist in tackling wildlife crime in England.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
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 to tackle the overuse of antibiotics in farms; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government published its annual progress report and implementation plan for the UK five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy in December 2014. This includes the further measures on animal health to be taken over the next four years to respond to the risk of antibiotic resistance and to promote the responsible use of antibiotics.
The Government continues to work with a number of industry bodies to encourage the development of prescribing guidelines to optimise prescribing practices and foster good stewardship of antibiotics.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
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 bring forward proposals to implement a ban on the killing of seals; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the Rt Hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East on 15 June 2015, PQ 1799.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
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 ban the use of battery cages to confine breeding pheasants and partridges used for sporting purposes.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government commissioned research into the use of cage rearing systems which it will publish in due course.
In the meantime, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal or to fail to provide for its welfare. In addition, the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes, which is made under the 2006 Act, provides game rearers with information on how to meet the welfare needs of their birds, as required under the 2006 Act.