Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of injuries caused to livestock by fireworks in the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley
Defra does not hold details of injuries to livestock caused by fireworks and I am not aware of any such data being held centrally, although it is possible that local veterinary practices may hold some information where vets have been called out to attend to injured stock.
Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of injuries to domestic pets caused by fireworks in the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley
We recognise that fireworks can cause considerable distress for pets and it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause any deliberate unnecessary suffering to an animal through the use of a firework. Government does not hold details of injuries to pet animals caused by fireworks. However it is likely that local veterinary surgeries would hold such information on any animals brought to their practice suffering such injuries.
Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the ability of dairy farmers to withstand market fluctuations of not replacing the school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
The future application of the EU School Milk Scheme is under consideration and no decisions have been taken. However, provisions included in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act will support any future decisions.
The EU Scheme sits alongside other initiatives such as the much larger national Nursery Milk Scheme for children under the age of five in daycare, Free School Milk for those children entitled to Free School Meals and the requirement for schools to make milk available for children under the School Food Standards. The key aim of these initiatives is to make a contribution towards ensuring that children are healthy and well-nourished. In addition, supporting dairy consumption from a young age also makes a useful contribution towards the success of our dairy sector.
Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the ability of dairy farmers to withstand market fluctuations of not replacing the school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
The future application of the EU School Milk Scheme is under consideration and no decisions have been taken. However, provisions included in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act will support any future decisions.
The EU Scheme sits alongside other initiatives such as the much larger national Nursery Milk Scheme for children under the age of five in daycare, Free School Milk for those children entitled to Free School Meals and the requirement for schools to make milk available for children under the School Food Standards. The key aim of these initiatives is to make a contribution towards ensuring that children are healthy and well-nourished. In addition, supporting dairy consumption from a young age also makes a useful contribution towards the success of our dairy sector.
Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to replace the EU school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme; and for what reason such steps were not included in the Agriculture Bill.
Answered by David Rutley
The existing legal framework for the EU’s School Scheme is being rolled over into UK law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This provides a suitable basis to support future decisions on the longer term approach to school milk rather than include the arrangements in the Agriculture Bill.
We want children to be healthy and well-nourished and regular dairy consumption makes an important contribution to this. The Government is also promoting children’s dairy consumption through, for example, the national free Nursery Milk Scheme, and by ensuring the availability of milk for pupils under the School Food Standards, including free milk for disadvantaged pupils.