Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Rutley and Philip Hollobone

Monday 13th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

To help pensioners with rising household bills, will the Government do more to promote pension credit? In the Kettering constituency, almost 18,000 retired people claim the state pension, but fewer than 2,000 claim pension credit, yet this can help with council tax bills, heating costs and so on. Across the country, 1 million pensioners are not claiming the pension credit to which they are entitled, so can the Government do more to increase the uptake of that benefit?

[David Rutley]

My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner on these matters, but we also have a doughty Pensions Minister who is working incredibly hard to increase the take-up. I also highlight to him that, as I am sure he knows, winter fuel payments and cold weather payments are also available to help pensioners on low incomes over the winter period.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Rutley and Philip Hollobone

Monday 8th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[David Rutley]

The hon. Gentleman’s constituents will have the opportunity to fill the vacancies that are no doubt in his patch as well as across the country. I can also assure him that we do understand that there will be vulnerable families who need extra support this winter, which is why £1.8 million has been allocated to families in Portsmouth through the local authorities there.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

10. How many people (a) receive the state pension and (b) claim pension credit in Kettering constituency.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Rutley and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 17th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

1. How much his Department has spent on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (David Rutley)]

I bring apologies from the Secretary of State this morning. He will not be attending these proceedings because he is attending vital cross-party meetings in Downing Street—[Interruption.] I am sure that Members across the House will understand that those meetings are vitally important at this stage.

In answer to Question 1, in the 2017 autumn Budget, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was allocated an additional £310 million to support its work on EU exit preparations in this financial year, 2018-19, with a further £10 million being repurposed from existing budgets. DEFRA is using that additional funding to prepare for and deliver its ambitious programme of EU exit activities in readiness for all scenarios, including preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement, as is the duty of a responsible Government.

[Mr Speaker]

Further to what the Minister has just said, I advise the House that the Secretary of State, in keeping with his usual courtesy, informed me last night of his intended absence. I shall greatly miss him, but we look forward to seeing the fellow again before too long.

[Mr Hollobone]

Well, I am not sure that the House does understand the Secretary of State’s absence, Mr Speaker. DEFRA questions are only half an hour long; surely those meetings could have been delayed for 30 minutes. My question to the Minister is: will DEFRA be 100% ready in the event of us having to leave with no deal?

[David Rutley]

The Department is working flat out to prepare for no deal. As the House knows, we are bringing on the onshoring of environment, agriculture and fisheries policies, involving 55 major projects and 120 statutory instruments. We will be recruiting around 2,700 officials to ensure that we are well prepared in a no-deal scenario.

Animal Rescue Centres

Debate between David Rutley and Philip Hollobone

Tuesday 4th December 2018 Westminster Hall

[Mr Philip Hollobone (in the Chair)]

The debate can now last until 5 pm.

[David Rutley]

Thank you, Mr Hollobone. I recognise that votes may have taken hon. Members’ interest away from this debate, but for those of us who are here, and particularly for the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse, we will continue to address the important concerns that he has expressed.

I was saying that it is argued that we need to address concerns about animal welfare standards in some unscrupulous rescue homes, and to do so partly to address concerns that third-party sellers would simply set up as rescues to avoid the proposed ban. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Government share the concerns completely. Therefore, as part of our consultation on a third-party sale ban, which we launched in August, we asked specifically whether the public thought that animal rescue and rehoming centres should be licensed.

The consultation closed in September and attracted nearly 7,000 responses. We are in the process of analysing the consultation responses and will publish a summary document shortly. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will be interested to see that. To bring in licensing of animal rescue homes, we would need to be clear about the benefits and the potential impacts. About 150 rescue homes are members of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, to which he referred. As he set out in his well-informed speech, the ADCH has set standards for its members to ensure that good welfare standards are met.

One member of the ADCH is the RSPCA. That charity says that in the past eight years it has investigated some 11 individuals and obtained 80 convictions against five people involved in animal rescue; a further two people received a caution. Those cases involved a total of more than 150 animals of different species, including dogs, cats, horses, farm animals and birds. That is despite all the hard work and the ongoing assistance that the RSPCA is willing to give and provides to failing establishments to ensure that they meet the standards and the needs of the animals in their care.

Regulation could benefit the sector and, importantly, the welfare of the animals involved, but we must remember the work and contributions of smaller rescue centres, which we have referred to and which in the vast majority of cases do all they can to promote the welfare of animals in their care. Many are not members of the ADCH, and there may be hundreds out there. DEFRA is working with those organisations and other animal welfare groups to build a better understanding of what the issues are for smaller organisations. We want to work with them to ensure that the appropriate welfare standards are put in place so that those who are operating genuinely, with the best intentions, can do so. The ADCH standards are well regarded and we will further consider them as part of our further work. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is concerned to hear about that as well.

I think that more needs to be done, following on from the Dogs Trust reception today, to tackle puppy smuggling. That, too, will help well-intentioned rehoming centres. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that much more targeted action is needed to tackle puppy smuggling from end to end—both supply and demand. We have zero tolerance for unscrupulous dealers and breeders abusing the pet travel scheme in order to traffic under-age puppies into the UK. Those puppies have to endure very long journeys and they are not effectively protected against very serious diseases, including rabies and tapeworm. That poses a risk not only to their health, but to the health of other animals and people in this country.

The puppies spend many of their early weeks of life living in completely unacceptable welfare and health conditions. We must stop that in its tracks. We will be working hard to do that. We shall also be taking forward campaigns that will focus on changing the opinion and behaviour of the public, so that they have a better understanding of what is required in order to purchase a puppy responsibly, and that will, at the same time, raise awareness of the scourge of puppy smuggling. Doing that will put greater focus on proper breeders and the valid work of rehoming centres.

The Government have made it clear that we take animal welfare very seriously. We have a clear and positive action plan and have followed that up with a series of announcements, including those about updating and improving the laws on the licensing of certain animal-related activities and about increasing the maximum penalties for animal cruelty. We have consulted on banning third-party sales of puppies and kittens and are looking very actively at licensing rehoming centres to ensure that all rescue homes meet the appropriate standards of animal welfare. Hon. Members can therefore be assured that the Government are not afraid to take action that is needed, and will go on doing so in support of Members across the House who want to see action taken.

I again thank the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse for his very thoughtful and considered contribution today.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered animal rescue centres.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Rutley and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 29th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[David Rutley]

It is good to hear that the children at St John’s school are taking a keen interest in this. We are taking strong action through the Ivory Bill, and I congratulate the Environment Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey), on the work she is doing to take that forward.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Will the Minister ensure that under any future trade agreements it is a requirement that food imported into the UK be produced to at least equivalent standards to those required of our domestic producers?

[David Rutley]

Yes—again, we will ensure that we do not water down those standards. I am sure that later in these questions we will hear from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice), who is doing a tremendous job in taking the Agriculture Bill through the House.

Food Labelling and Allergy-Related Deaths

Debate between David Rutley and Philip Hollobone

Tuesday 9th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[David Rutley]

I thank the hon. Lady for her questions. She makes penetrating points, as always. As the father of a daughter with allergy problems, I assure her that I take such things incredibly seriously. I have recently come to this post—we have worked together on issues such as the ivory ban—and she can rest assured that I will be taking this matter up with the utmost seriousness and will tackle it as a matter of urgency.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

When will we make it a requirement to label halal and kosher products as such to better inform consumers who may or may not wish to buy such products?

[David Rutley]

I will come back to my hon. Friend with further thoughts when we can meet to discuss that matter further.