Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 potential impact of sewage discharges in the North West on (a) social and (b) economic well-being.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our landmark Water (Special Measures) Act will introduce independent monitoring of every sewerage outlet, with water companies required to publish real-time data for all emergency overflows. Discharges will have to be reported within an hour of the initial spill.
We have begun rebuilding the water network to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. In one of the largest infrastructure projects in this country’s history, £104 billion is being invested to upgrade crumbling pipes and sewage treatment works across the country.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 potential contribution of co-operatives in agriculture to food security.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring and recognises the important role they play in food security, the resilience of the food sector and as a lifeline for community access to food.
Through the food strategy, Defra is considering how to better support local and place-based initiatives to deliver the changes needed for resilience, including food and farming co-operatives and mutuals.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 take steps to help support the expansion of the number of co-operatives in farming.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring and recognises the important role they play in food security, the resilience of the food sector and as a lifeline for community access to food.
Through the food strategy, Defra is considering how to better support local and place-based initiatives to deliver the changes needed for resilience, including food and farming co-operatives and mutuals.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the licensing fees paid by XL Bully dog owners will cover the cost of preparing the certificate of exemption.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The application fee paid by XL bully owners on registering an XL Bully covers the cost of processing the application and preparing the certificate of exemption.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 her Department has made of the economic impact of the use of combined sewer overflows on coastal businesses in England and Wales.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan was published in August 2022, alongside an Impact Assessment which considers costs and benefits of the final targets to businesses, the public, wider society and government spending where applicable.
Water is a devolved area. The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan applies to companies wholly or mainly in England.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 her Department has made of the economic benefits of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
A general economic assessment of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 is not available.
However, assessments of current policies for increasing access to nature indicate there will be economic benefits. For example, the Coast to Coast National Trail currently generates significant economic benefits as England's most popular long-distance route, attracting approximately 6,000 annual end-to-end walkers who contribute £7 million to the local economy. A baseline study for the King Charles III England Coast Path showed that over 29 million leisure walking trips took place on English coastal paths in 2017. Over £379 million is spent in the national economy as a result of trips to use English coastal paths, of which £350 million is spent within local coastal economies.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 she has made of the effectiveness of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government believes that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 plays a very important part in our overall approach towards tackling dangerous dogs. This is why we are taking urgent action to bring forward a ban on XL Bully dog types under the Act following a concerning rise in attacks and fatalities, which appear to be driven by this type of dog. In the meantime, we have been working hard with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to help prevent attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied across all breeds of dog.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 oral contribution of the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries of 6 July 2023, Official Report, column 921, if she will publish all water company storm overflow plans that she has received in full.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In February 2023, the Secretary of State asked water and sewerage companies to produce an action plan for every storm overflow in England. As a result, I have received all the draft water company plans.
Action Plans will be published following a review to ensure there is a standardised level of accuracy and consistency across the plans.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 make an estimate of the number of cases of avian flu in the UK; and what information her Department holds on the number of cases in EU countries.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Since the start of the current epizootic in October 2021, 344 cases of avian influenza (343 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and 1 case of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H7N3) have been confirmed in poultry and other captive birds in the UK. Although new cases have slowed, there have been 186 cases (185 cases of HPAI H5N1 and 1 case of LPAI H7N3) since 1 October 2022 (the start of year 2 of the epizootic), including 155 HPAI H5N1 cases in England, 21 HPAI H5N1 cases and 1 LPAI H7N3 case in Scotland, 8 HPAI H5N1 cases in Wales and 1 HPAI H5N1 case in Northern Ireland. This compares to a total of 158 cases of HPAI H5N1 in year one of the epizootic (October 2021 to September 2022), including 134 cases in England, 7 cases in Wales, 11 cases in Scotland, 6 cases in Northern Ireland.
Further details on the current situation for HPAI and LPAI in the UK and Europe can be found in the risk and outbreak assessments published on GOV.UK at Avian influenza (bird flu) in Europe, Russia and the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This includes information on outbreaks and events in both domestic poultry, captive birds and wild birds in Europe reported by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the reference laboratory Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe). We continue to monitor the current situation both in Europe and globally, as well as the effectiveness of any disease control measures taken.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made on delivering an avian influenza vaccine.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Vaccination of poultry and captive birds against avian influenza, excluding those in licensed zoos in England, is not currently permitted. However preventative vaccination for avian influenza may be an option for the future but is unlikely to be a viable option for the 2023/24 high risk season. Defra established in February 2023 a cross government and industry task force to explore potential for use of vaccination as a preventive measure for avian influenza.
In parallel to the work of the avian influenza vaccination task force Defra in conjunction with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) will continue to monitor the development and availability of vaccines for their utility in preventing and responding to avian influenza outbreaks as they are put forward for market authorisation by vaccine manufacturers.
Any future decisions on disease control measures, including the use of vaccination, will be based upon the latest scientific and ornithological evidence, and veterinary advice.