Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 173051, what steps her Department have taken to examine the use of cages for laying hens.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We are providing a range of financial incentives for improving animal health and welfare to farmers through the new Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. These incentives focus on published health and welfare priorities for each sector and will include support for farmers wishing to transition away from the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens.
Specifically, we are exploring options for large infrastructure grants, building on the animal health and welfare grants already available towards the cost of equipment and technology which offer improvements in the health and welfare of livestock.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to provide funding to farmers to transition to cage-free farming systems in 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We are providing a range of financial incentives for improving animal health and welfare to farmers through the new Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. These incentives focus on published health and welfare priorities for each sector and will include support for farmers wishing to transition away from the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs.
Specifically, we are exploring options for large infrastructure grants, building on the animal health and welfare grants already available towards the cost of equipment and technology which offer improvements in the health and welfare of livestock.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2023 to Question 179978 on Poultry: Animal Housing, if she will make an estimate of the costs to industry of a ban on the use of cages for laying hens.
Answered by Mark Spencer
There are no current plans to estimate the cost to industry of a ban on the use of cages for laying hens.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that pelagic supertrawlers licensed to fish in UK waters are fulfilling their legal duty to report marine mammal bycatch to the Marine Management Organisation.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The UK introduced new rules in 2021 making it a mandatory requirement under fishing vessel licence conditions for fishers to report any marine mammal bycatch to the MMO. On the introduction of this requirement, communications were sent out by Defra, the Devolved Administrations and the MMO to ensure that industry understood the new obligations. Responsibility for enforcing licence conditions in Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the Devolved Administrations.
The Sea Mammal Research Unit have carried out monitoring of pelagic trawlers targeting herring and mackerel for a number of years and reported no bycatch of marine mammals in these fisheries in recent years, whilst other sections of the UK pelagic fleet are working on bycatch mitigation projects to reduce the likelihood of these events occurring more broadly.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 158888 on Dogs: Animal Breeding, which local authorities have failed to provide annual returns detailing the number of licenced dog breeders under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
For the 2021-22 reporting period, my Department received returns from 233 local authorities in England, which represents a doubling of the response rate from the previous year.
My Department asks all local authorities to complete their returns in full. The 2022-23 data return opened on 1st April and will run until 31st May. This year, my officials have used multiple platforms to remind local authorities of their obligation to provide their returns and of the benefits of doing so.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 158888 on Dogs: Animal Breeding, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of adherence of local authorities to mandatory reporting of licenced dog breeders in their annual returns.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
For the 2021-22 reporting period, my Department received returns from 233 local authorities in England, which represents a doubling of the response rate from the previous year.
My Department asks all local authorities to complete their returns in full. The 2022-23 data return opened on 1st April and will run until 31st May. This year, my officials have used multiple platforms to remind local authorities of their obligation to provide their returns and of the benefits of doing so.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 158888 on Dogs: Animal Breeding, how many local authorities have failed to provide their annual return detailing the number of dog breeding licences issued under their authority.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
For the 2021-22 reporting period, my Department received returns from 233 local authorities in England, which represents a doubling of the response rate from the previous year.
My Department asks all local authorities to complete their returns in full. The 2022-23 data return opened on 1st April and will run until 31st May. This year, my officials have used multiple platforms to remind local authorities of their obligation to provide their returns and of the benefits of doing so.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to publish a consultation on food labelling.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. The Government is committed to optimising the information that is available to consumers.
For example, in 2021 Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the potential impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare. A summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK. Based on the evidence provided, Defra committed in the Government’s Food Strategy to consult on improving and expanding mandatory animal welfare labelling in 2023.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 were in England as of 1 March 2023; and how many of those breed more than three litters a year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, local authorities are required to provide an annual return detailing the number of licences in force on 1st April each year, and the average fees associated with the grant or renewal of each licence. There is no requirement for local authorities to provide information on licence holders’ commercial activities, such as the number of litters bred by a licenced dog breeder. Under the 2018 Regulations, local authorities have until 31st May each year to provide their returns. Data from 2022 is published by Defra and can be found here: Local Authority Licensing of Activities involving Animals returns - data.gov.uk
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 her Department's press release entitled Cruel electric shock collars for pets to be banned, published on 27 August 2018, what her planned timetable is for implementing a ban on the use of remote control electric shock collars.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We plan to introduce regulations soon which will prohibit the use of remote controlled electronic training collars that deliver an electric shock to cats and dogs.