Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains his policy to bring forward legislation banning the importation of hunting trophies.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We are disappointed that the Hunting Trophies Bill failed to progress in the House of Lords in the previous session, in spite of overwhelming support from hon. Members for our proposals. We are committed to delivering on our manifesto pledge to ban the import of hunting trophies and will continue to explore ways to bring this forward.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the number of smuggled animal exports in each of last five years; and whether she intends to bring forward legislation to ban live exports of (a) horses, (b) donkeys, (c) ponies and (d) all animals for slaughter.
Answered by Mark Spencer
No assessment has been made of “smuggled” animal exports.
We will be bringing forward the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill in this session of Parliament. The Bill will ban the export from Great Britain of cattle; sheep; goats; pigs; and horses and other equines, including donkeys and ponies, for slaughter and fattening.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains her policy to bring forward legislative proposals to make the abduction of (a) cats and (b) other pets a criminal offence.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We would be supportive of legislation on pet abduction when parliamentary time allows. We have listened carefully to views expressed on the pet abduction measures during the passage of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill including adding cats. We will take this feedback into consideration when delivering this measure.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 plans to introduce mandatory pre-stun slaughter for farmed fish.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Animal Welfare Committee has updated its 2014 Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and we will study their recommendations carefully, including those around stunning of farmed fish.
Current legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the impact of breeding brachycephalic animals as pets on the welfare of those animals; and whether her Department plans to bring forward measures to help safeguard the welfare of brachycephalic animals that are bred to be kept as pets.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra meets regularly with a range of animal welfare and companion animal sector organisations and is kept abreast of concerns relating to brachycephaly in companion animals. Brachycephalic companion animals bred to be sold and kept as pets are already protected under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations). The 2018 Regulations require anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters of dogs in a twelve-month period, as well as anyone in the business of breeding and selling rabbits or cats as pets, needs to hold a valid licence issued by their local authority.
Under the 2018 Regulations, licensed dog breeders are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies, and licensed pet sellers are required to protect any animals bred for sale as a pet from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
To support consumers and reduce the opportunities available to unscrupulous breeders and sellers, Defra maintains a national communications campaign (Petfished) to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the use of remote controlled electronic shock collars; and if she will do so before the end of this parliamentary session.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary business will be scheduled and announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 Answer of 28 May 2021 to Question 4718 on Dogs: Animal Welfare, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the (a) importation and (b) non-commercial movement of dogs into the UK that have been subject to (i) ear cropping and (ii) other low welfare practices; and if she do so before the end of this parliamentary session.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As outlined in our 2021 Action Plan for Animal Welfare, the Government has an ambitious agenda for animal welfare and conservation reforms, which we plan to take forward during the current Parliamentary session and beyond. We will continue to introduce and support legislative and non-legislative reforms where possible.
A single-issue Bill which takes forward this manifesto commitment would enable us to bring forward bans on the import of young puppies, heavily pregnant dogs and those with mutilations such as cropped ears and docked tails which we have previously consulted on.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff vacancies there were in the Environment Agency as of 12 June 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
As of 31 May 2023, the Environment Agency has 139 full-time equivalent (FTE) vacancies across the whole organisation. The data is up until May only as our central contract with SSCL (through Cabinet Office) provides FTE reports once a month.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 16 May to Question 184541 on Agriculture and Food, whether any trade union representatives attended the UK farm to fork summit held at Downing Street on 16 May 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The National Farmers Union attended.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish a list of organisations and representatives attending the UK farm to fork food summit at Downing Street on 16 May 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The summit brings together government, farmers and food producers to boost cooperation and promote all elements of our world-renowned farming and food industries. The event will look at how we can champion UK food and drink both at home and abroad by boosting confidence in the UK food sector, helping more businesses to invest in domestic production and supporting the long term resilience and sustainability of the food sector. Further details will be announced in due course.