Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to prevent the export of seed potatoes to Russia.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The UK Government is delivering the largest package of sanctions in our history, cutting off funding to Putin's war machine.
I welcome commitments already made by several seed potato exporters to divest from Russian exports. I am urging firms to think very carefully about further investments in Russia; I am clear that there is no case for new investment in Russia.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 help raise public awareness of the consequences for cattle of Neospora and its connection dog faeces.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Neospora is a parasite. Neospora caninum may cause abortions in cattle and paralysis in dogs. It is not considered to be infectious to humans. Clinical disease in dogs is rare and owners may not be aware of infection in their pet.
The Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs was presented to Parliament in December 2017. It makes clear that a dog’s handler has a legal obligation to clean up after it (Welfare of Dogs). Similarly, the statutory guidance within the Countryside Code: Advice for Countryside Visitors, updated 01 April 2021, (Countryside Code) highlights the risk of illness to people and livestock, and sets out that dog handlers must clean up after the dog.
Guidance and advice for cattle owners on preventative measures has been provided by the National Animal Disease Information Service NADIS - National Animal Disease Information Service.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) staff were working from home in response to the outbreak of covid-19 as at 24 November 2021; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the level of home working on the effectiveness of the MMO.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
In line with the wider Defra response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) currently operates an office based blended working model where all MMO staff can mix office based and home working, subject to safe office capacity. The MMO has also continued to operate sea and shore-based assurance inspections throughout the pandemic.
No assessment on the effect that home working has had on the effectiveness of the MMO has been undertaken.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what targets are in place for the Marine Management Organisation to determine applications from marine enterprises for major investment projects.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Marine Management Organisation operates several key services to support the development of major investment projects from marine enterprises, including grant funding and marine licensing. All these services include targets subject to regular performance review, including quarterly at Board level, and are published annually.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what metrics his Department uses to measure the efficiency of the Marine Management Organisation; and what recent assessment he has made of the MMO's performance against those metrics.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The efficiency of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is measured through specific service-based targets which are subject to regular performance review, including quarterly at Board level. Like all government departments, the MMO is also required to publish an annual report each year which provides information on its purpose, the key risks in achieving its objectives, and how it has performed. The latest published annual report from the MMO is available online.