Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
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 23 April 2024 to Question 20947 on Members: Correspondence, when he plans to respond to that correspondence.
Answered by Mark Spencer
A response will be issued very shortly. I apologise again for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 29 January and (b) 4 March 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare relating to haggis exports.
Answered by Mark Spencer
A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued in due course. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to Question 19018, tabled on 18 March 2024, on Members: Correspondence, when he plans to reply to the letters of 12 January and 14 February 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about e-collars.
Answered by Mark Spencer
A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 15 April 2024. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to reply to the letters of 12 January and 14 February 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about e-collars.
Answered by Mark Spencer
A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued in due course. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
The hon. Member’s constituent asks about the Government’s position on electronic shock collars, known as e-collars. I can confirm that the Government remains committed to introducing a ban on the use of e-collars. We will pursue new regulations to deliver this commitment on a revised timeline. The full reply to the hon. Member’s letters will explain the reasoning behind this position.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 1853 tabled by the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on 14 November 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
A response was published on 27th December 2023.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to reply to the letters of 7 September and13 October 2023 from the hon. member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about the Dangerous Dogs Act 2014 and XL Bullies.
Answered by Mark Spencer
A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 15 December 2023. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
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 respond to the letters dated (a) 18 July 2023 and (b) 15 August 2023 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on Ofwat’s water network policy reforms.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to balance the regulatory burden on the agricultural sector with the protection of environmental, welfare and food standards.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We are committed to fair, clear, effective regulation of farming – while maintaining and improving delivering important environmental, animal, plant and public health protections.
We have already overhauled our regulatory approach, removing harsh penalties in cross compliance, leading to an 85% drop in formal complaints, whilst working with farmers through an advice-led approach to protect standards - with over 2,600 Environment Agency improvement notices completed since April 2021.
We have removed bureaucratic, ineffective EU greening rules and we will continue to reduce burdens where possible while cracking down on those who let the side down.