Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of live animals transported between the UK and its international trading partners in each of the last three years.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of farmed animals transported between Great Britain and its international trading partners in each of the last three years are shown in the tables below. APHA only hold export data for Great Britain. Import data has also only been provided for Great Britain for the purpose of consistent comparison.
Imports
Year | Number of farmed animals* |
2014 | 144,177 |
2015 | 128,603 |
2016 | 72,936 |
Exports
Year | Number of farmed animals* |
2014 | 44,923 |
2015 | 34,965 |
2016 | 68,205 |
*Farm animal figures include cattle, pigs, sheep and goats.
This excludes fish, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, birds (including poultry day old chicks) rabies susceptible animals and ungulates. This also excludes dogs, cats and ferrets moving into and out of the UK commercially and under the Pet Travel Scheme.
The information is held by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on Defra’s and the Scottish and Welsh Governments’ behalf. Northern Ireland has a separate system.
The Government is committed to improving the welfare of all animals. The Government has always been clear that it would prefer animals to be slaughtered close to the point of production. EU rules prevent the UK from restricting live exports while it is a member. Our manifesto makes clear we will take early steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter, as we leave the European Union. We will set out proposals in due course.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of when air quality in each area of the UK will be compatible with the UK's legal obligations.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
In July 2017 the Government published the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations, announcing £255 million for local councils to accelerate their air quality plans. This is in addition to the £2.7 billion already committed to tackle poor air quality and reduce vehicle emissions, bringing our total investment to £3 billion.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 has taken to ensure that dangerous dogs in Cardiff Central constituency are chipped.
Answered by George Eustice
As of 6 April 2016 all dogs in Great Britain had to be identified by a microchip and registered on a database. We estimate that over 94% of dogs in Great Britain are microchipped. More broadly in relation to controlling dangerous dogs, it is a criminal offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control with a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment in the case of an attack resulting in the death of a person; 5 years’ imprisonment in the case of an injury to a person; and 3 years’ imprisonment in the case of an attack on an assistance dog. In addition, police and local authorities can issue Community Protection Notices to owners of dogs involved low level dog nuisance incidents allowing intervention before a dog becomes dangerously out of control. Failure to comply with such notices can result in a fine of up to £2,500.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the UK's waterways that will meet the EU's good ecological and chemical status by 2027.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive within the UK is a devolved matter.
Updated River Basin Management Plans published in 2016 provide the framework for protecting and improving the water environment, and focus on the improvements for the period 2016 to 2021. The Plans for England confirm over £3billion of investment by 2021, leading to improvements in at least 680 water bodies. This includes an overall target to enhance at least 5000 miles of waters by 2021.
The Plans will be reviewed and updated in 2021 taking account of progress that has been made and the best evidence then on what can be achieved by 2027.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 24 April 2017 to Question 71069, how many emergency authorisation applications for the use of neonicotinoid pesticides the Government has approved in the last (a) 12 and (b) 24 months.
Answered by George Eustice
Three neonicotinoids are currently subject to restrictions which normally prohibit their use on a number of crops. Two emergency authorisations have been granted for the use of these restricted neonicotinoids. Those authorisations, issued in July 2015, allowed limited and controlled use on oilseed rape until November 2015. In total, eight applications for use of the same neonicotinoids have been turned down between 2015 and 2017. All decisions are made on the basis of advice from the independent UK Expert Committee on Pesticides.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for the use of neonicotinoid pesticides her Department plans to make to the European Commission during the next 42 months; and how many such applications have been made from the UK in the last (a) 12 and (b) 24 months.
Answered by George Eustice
There is no process that provides for the UK to make such applications to the European Commission.
There is a process for “emergency authorisation” of pesticides. Applications for emergency authorisation are made to the UK Government by applicants and are carefully considered on the basis of the scientific evidence and the legal requirements.