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Written Question
Salmon: North Atlantic Ocean
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department held discussions at the recent North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation on protecting salmon stocks as they migrate to feeding grounds in the North Atlantic; and if she will press for international agreement on such protections.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As a contracting party to the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO), the UK took part in the organisation’s annual meeting in June. Salmon migrating to the North Atlantic are protected by NASCO’s prohibition of fishing salmon beyond coastal States’ jurisdictions with the exception of the waters off West Greenland, where salmon fishing is capped at 27 tonnes per annum until 2025.


Written Question
Agriculture: Environment Protection
Wednesday 28th June 2023

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she (a) received and (b) plans to publish the report of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, commissioned by Natural England pursuant to the Agri-Environment Schemes Species Monitoring Project.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The report is currently with Natural England Agri-Environment Monitoring and Evaluation team, waiting on final clearance and the associated documents to be prepared for the Defra publication process. The timescales may vary but it is likely to be published in Quarter 3 of this year.

A draft was produced in March 2022, followed by Natural England Technical Steering Group review and external peer review by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in July 2022. External peer review responses were returned in November 2022 and reviewed January 2023, followed by amendments with the final report submitted to Natural England on 18th May 2023.


Written Question
Sites of Special Scientific Interest: Agriculture
Wednesday 29th March 2023

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Natural England on its policy on grazing on sites of special scientific interest; and whether she is taking steps to help ensure the continuation of traditional farming of hefted flocks on Dartmoor.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

Grazing on sites of special scientific interest needs to be undertaken carefully and sensitively and should be tailored to the specific site to ensure that the condition of the SSSI site is either maintained or improved. Traditional hefting (or learing as it is known in Dartmoor) of flocks can work alongside this. I will work closely with Natural England to help ensure that sites of special scientific interest can be managed effectively to balance hefting alongside these two elements in Dartmoor.


Written Question
Hill Farming
Monday 27th March 2023

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Natural England on supporting the value of traditional farming and the social and cultural capital of its communities supported by upland farming in a manner that encourages the promotion of each.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Natural England’s role is to help conserve, enhance and manage the natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations in a way that contributes to sustainable development. We hold regular discussions with Natural England to support this aim.


Written Question
Dogs: Brucellosis
Tuesday 24th January 2023

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) prevalence of Brucella Canis and (b) risk it presents to humans in the UK; and what steps including import controls she is taking to prevent the spread of that disease.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Brucella canis is classed as a reportable disease under the Zoonoses Order and in 2022, the first full reporting year, 54 cases were reported.


The Human Animal Infections & Risk Surveillance group (HAIRS), chaired by Defra, published a risk statement in February 2021 which concluded that the evidence available at that time did not allow an in-depth assessment of the risk to the general public. This statement is now under review in light of new data available.


Working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), we will continue to gather information on the disease risk posed by B.Canis and will consider any further actions including import controls as appropriate.


Written Question
South West Water: Rebates
Monday 13th December 2021

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

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 extend the rebate for South West Water customers for a further year, in the context of pricing structures for 2022-23 being determined by water companies early in 2022.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has provided the customer subsidy since 2013 in recognition that water bills in the region can be a source of financial pressure. South West Water's business plan for this price review period sets out efficiency savings, which have already seen household bills in the region decrease. We are currently liaising with South West Water on the future funding requirement for the rebate.


Written Question
Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
Tuesday 7th December 2021

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of widespread vaccination of the UK’s badger population for the purpose of reducing the spread of bovine tuberculosis; what evidence his Department has that vaccination will be effective in protecting livestock on farms in England; and whether his Department will make provisions to retain culling in areas where vaccination does not prove effective.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Evidence indicates that vaccination reduces disease burden in the badger population, with field trials showing that vaccinated badgers were at least 54% (and up to 76%) less likely to test positive for TB. The same field trial found that when more than a third of the social group was vaccinated, infection risk to unvaccinated cubs reduced by 79% (Carter et al 2012 [1]).

Both modelling in a post-cull environment in England (Smith GC & Budgey R, 2021 [2]), and evidence from Ireland (Martin SW, et al. 2020 [3]), suggests that vaccination following culling should help maintain reductions in cattle TB incidence. In a trial of badger vaccination in Ireland, vaccination was found to be as effective as long-term continuous culling in lowering cattle TB incidence in four of the seven counties studied, which led to a policy change to gradually replace culling with vaccination.

Logically, as badgers cause a proportion of cattle breakdowns and badger vaccination has been proven to reduce the disease burden in badgers, vaccination is expected to result in a reduction in cattle TB incidence where badgers are infecting cattle. However, there has been no trial in England to assess the magnitude or timing of these effects. Accordingly, we are developing a surveillance and monitoring system that will allow us to monitor levels of disease in wildlife and cattle. This will enable government and industry to be more agile in tackling the disease.

Badger culling would remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed.

[1] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0049833

[2] https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248426.

[3] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105004.


Written Question
Pigs: Slaughterhouses
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made in tackling the backlog of pigs awaiting slaughter on farms; and what recent discussions he has had with the (a) National Pig Association and (b) National Farmers’ Union on issues affecting the pig industry.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

We have been working closely with the pig industry to understand how best to support it in response to the challenges it is facing due to the pandemic, disruption to CO2 supplies, a temporary shortage of labour and several processing plants losing access to the Chinese export market. Ministers and officials meet regularly with the National Pig Association and the National Farmers Union to discuss matters of joint interest including the current situation in the pig sector.

On 14 October, the Government announced a package of measures to support the pig industry and to seek to reduce the animal welfare implications of pigs backing up on farms.

These measures include the approval of up to 800 temporary visas for pork butchers, a Private Storage Aid scheme, and a Slaughter Incentive Payment Scheme to increase the throughput of pigs through processors. We also continue to work with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to identify new export markets for pork, particularly for lightly processed pork.

Furthermore, in England and Scotland, the two meat levy bodies have introduced a suspension on the statutory levy for pig farmers and producers during November 2021 – suspending payments of the levy pig farmers and producers are required to pay. This will amount to savings for the sector of just under £1 million.

The Government will continue to monitor the evolving situation and to work closely with the industry through this challenging period.


Written Question
Countryside
Tuesday 23rd November 2021

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 24 June 2021, HCWS119 on Government response to the Landscapes Review, what recent progress has been made in developing proposals for the reform of National Parks and AONBs; what meetings he has had with the Dartmoor National Park Authority on structural reform to national park governance; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Secretary of State has not met the Dartmoor National Park Authority to discuss the response to the Landscapes Review. However, Lord Benyon has met with National Parks England, and Government officials have met regularly with representatives from several National Parks Authorities, to inform our response to the review.

The Government intends to respond to the review in full and consult on draft proposals shortly.


Written Question
National Parks
Wednesday 21st April 2021

Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ensure that the implementation of the principle of local governance of national parks remains effective; and what assessment he has made of the compatibility of that principle and the introduction of a National Landscape Service.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Landscapes Review recommended that the current system of local governance for National Parks should be reformed, and set out a number of specific proposals for how it should be changed to inspire and secure ambition in our national landscapes and better reflect society. It also recommended that a new National Landscapes Service is needed to ensure that our protected landscapes can achieve more than the sum of their parts for people and for nature.

The government will work with our partner organisations to consider carefully the importance of effective local governance as we develop our response to the review, including any changes to local and national governance structures. We will publish our response in due course.