Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 25 October 2021 to Question 57091 on Dogs: Artificial Insemination, what his planned timetable is his Department to consider the recommendations on future veterinary legislation submitted by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
As I stated in my previous answer, Defra officials are currently considering the recommendations submitted by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons concerning the reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. Any possible subsequent legislation would be when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency's Sludge Strategy in regulating the use of sewage sludge by farmers.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency published its sludge strategy in March 2020 and is currently working on the delivery of this strategy with the water industry, Defra and other key stakeholders - including the National Farmers’ Union. The strategy’s implementation is due to be completed in 2023. Current work includes preparation for a public consultation to effect the changes laid out in the strategy, including an assessment of the strategy’s approach.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish a (a) list of the companies his Department has engaged in the delivery and operation of inland border control posts and (b) a timetable for any contracts awarded for that purpose.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra has engaged Mott MacDonald under contract to provide Design Assurance services to support the delivery of the Sevington Border Control Post (BCP) and the Dover Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) BCP. Their contract in support of Sevington BCP currently runs until 31 January 2022 and their work in relation to Dover SPS BCP until 4 February 2022. The Department is also in the process of engaging other companies to support the delivery and operation of its three inland border control posts.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of Union Jack flags purchased by his Department in each of the last two years were manufactured in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has purchased one Union Jack flag since 2019. This flag was made in the UK.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which companies have supplied Union Jack flags to his Department since 2019.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has purchased one Union Jack flag since 2019. This flag was made in the UK.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people carrying out the artificial insemination of canines have been found by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to not be suitably competent to carry out the procedure, in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Anyone performing artificial insemination of canines and not considered competent would be operating outside of the regulatory framework. As a result, Defra or the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons do not hold information on instances of people who are not suitably competent carrying out this activity.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the potential merits of regulating the procedure of artificial insemination of canines.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has recently submitted its recommendations for future veterinary legislation to Defra. These recommendations include wide ranging proposals for the regulation of procedures that could be considered for delegation to non-vets, including canine insemination, and regulated as such. Defra officials are currently considering the full package of recommendations before discussing with stakeholders in due course.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which companies are involved with delivering Border Control Points for plant inspections.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
High-priority plants and plant products imported from the EU, and all regulated plant and plant products from the rest of the world, are currently inspected at destination by plant health inspectors from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). Inspections of all regulated plants and plant products with be conducted at designated border control posts (BCPs) from 1st July 2022 by APHA inspectors. BCPs are being established by commercial ports and by Government at the Short Straits. We do not hold details on which companies are employed by the commercial ports.
DfT is responsible for the construction of the Sevington Border Control Post which will accommodate inspections of plants, plant products, products of animal origin (POAO) arriving through Eurotunnel, and large animals and livestock and Defra is leasing a second facility in the Dover area for POAO.
Defra is engaging contractors and other companies to support the delivery and operation of the inland Border Control Posts and contracts will be awarded once the process is concluded.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what economic impact assessment he has carried out on the impact of plant inspection charges on garden centres.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
It has long been UK Government policy to charge for many publicly provided goods and services. The standard approach is to set fees to recover the full costs of service delivery. This relieves the general taxpayer of costs, so that they are properly borne by users who benefit from a service. This allows for a more equitable distribution of public resources and enables lower public expenditure and borrowing. Defra plant health services operate in line with that principle and have done for many years.
No assessment on the impact of plant inspection charges on garden centres has been carried out.
Legislation relating to fees does not fall within the bounds of the Business Impact Target and so does not require the development of impact assessments.
Additionally, The Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, which extended the existing plant health charging regime to imports from and exports to the EU, was covered by a statutory exclusion under the Small Business Enterprise and Employment (SBEE) Act, because the instrument was varying an existing charge levied by a public body (the Animal and Plant Health Agency). The actual cost to businesses will vary depending on how they organise their imports and the type of material being imported.
However, Defra has engaged extensively with industry and, to reduce the burden on businesses, Defra took the decision to delay the introduction of inspection fees for imports of ‘high priority’ plants and plant products from the EU until 1 June 2021 in England and Wales. In arriving at the decision to delay the introduction of plant health import inspection fees for these goods, Defra has had to balance the need to support affected businesses against legal considerations and the rules around managing public money. Delaying these fees until 1 June 2021 struck the right balance between these competing demands.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the cost of fly-tipping to local authorities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Research conducted by Eunomia on behalf of Defra estimated the total costs of fly-tipping for all UK authorities to be £103 million per annum. However, the report notes that better information on incident type, size, composition and clean-up cost would be necessary to provide more certainty around this 'very indicative, initial estimate'. This report can be found at: WRAP-eunomia-financial-cost-of-packaging-litter-phase-2-2021
Until 2016/17 Defra estimated the cost of clearing fly-tipping to local authorities in England each year as part of Defra published statistics. The estimated cost in 2016/17 was £57.7 million. These cost estimates are no longer produced but figures for previous years can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england