Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licensed animal breeders there are in the (a) United Kingdom and (b) Clacton constituency.
Answered by David Rutley
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 came into force on 1 October 2018. These regulations replace outdated Acts, and are based on modern welfare standards. The Regulations include a requirement for local authorities to submit data to Defra each year on the number of licences in force for each licensable activity. The first submission will be required to be submitted to Defra by 31 May 2019 covering the period October 2018 to March 2019 inclusive. Therefore, the Department does not currently hold data on the number of licensed dog breeders under these regulations. Under the previous legislation, there were an estimated 4,950 licensed dog breeders in England.
Breeders of animals other than dogs are not subject to licensing requirements, unless they are in the business of selling the animals as pets. Under the previous legislation there were an estimated 2,300 licensed pet sellers in England, but this includes sellers that do not breed the animals themselves.
Defra does not hold data on the whole of the UK or for individual Parliamentary constituencies. This information is held by Local Authorities.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licensed dog breeders there are in the (a) UK and (b) Clacton constituency.
Answered by David Rutley
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 came into force on 1 October 2018. These regulations replace outdated Acts, and are based on modern welfare standards. The Regulations include a requirement for local authorities to submit data to Defra each year on the number of licences in force for each licensable activity. The first submission will be required to be submitted to Defra by 31 May 2019 covering the period October 2018 to March 2019 inclusive. Therefore, the Department does not currently hold data on the number of licensed dog breeders under these regulations. Under the previous legislation, there were an estimated 4,950 licensed dog breeders in England.
Breeders of animals other than dogs are not subject to licensing requirements, unless they are in the business of selling the animals as pets. Under the previous legislation there were an estimated 2,300 licensed pet sellers in England, but this includes sellers that do not breed the animals themselves.
Defra does not hold data on the whole of the UK or for individual Parliamentary constituencies. This information is held by Local Authorities.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to expand the size of UK’s Blue Belt.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government is currently consulting on the Third Tranche of Marine Conservation Zones which closes on 20 July. In this consultation we are proposing 41 new sites, covering an area of 11,700 km2. If all 41 new sites are designated then a total of 218,000 km2 will be protected in the UK’s Blue Belt.