Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 30 June 2025 to Question 61897 on Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group, who the members of the taskforce are; which members are leading on each of the four themes; and when he expects the taskforce to report their findings to Government.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Responsible Dog Ownership Taskforce is convened by Defra officials, and the membership is made up of representatives from animal welfare organisations, local authorities, the police and Welsh government. Each of these groups is represented on the four subgroups that lead on the key themes. The taskforce will report their findings in due course.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 12 June 2025 to Question 57375 on Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group, on which dates the Responsible Dog Ownership Taskforce has met since July 2024; what topics it is considering; and what the action points were from its last meeting.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce was reconvened in May 2025. The taskforce is considering four themes: education, training for both dogs and their owners, enforcement, and improving data on dog attacks. We look forward to receiving the findings and recommendations from the taskforce in due course.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on ensuring the continued transportation of milling wheat for food production; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of collaboration with industry and other government departments on this.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra maintains regular engagement with industry and other Government departments to monitor potential risks to the food supply.
This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
In addition, Defra works closely with the Department for Transport’s Road Haulage team to ensure transport policies fully consider the needs of the food sector, including the critical movement of milling wheat.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which organisations from the food and drink sector has he met to discuss the Food Labelling Consultation since July 2024; and what the dates were of those meetings.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
I regularly meet with key food and drink sector stakeholders such as the Food and Drink Federation, the National Farmers' Union, UK Hospitality, and the British Retail Consortium to discuss food system issues including relevant Government consultations such as the Fairer Food Consultation.
Defra officials also engage regularly with a range of key food and drink stakeholders, including as part of the ongoing development of the Government's food and animal welfare strategies.
Additionally, I am pleased to let the Hon. Member know that the Summary of Responses and Government Response to the consultation have now been published.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the enforcement powers available to enable local authorities to tackle fly-tipping.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. This will build on the sanctions already available which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution which can lead to a significant fine, community sentence or even imprisonment.
Sentencing is a matter for the courts. The Defra chaired National Fly-tipping Prevention Group has produced a guide on how local authorities, and others, can present robust cases to court. This is available at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers to provide statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of existing enforcement powers for tackling fly-tipping.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. This will build on the sanctions already available which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution which can lead to a significant fine, community sentence or even imprisonment.
Sentencing is a matter for the courts. The Defra chaired National Fly-tipping Prevention Group has produced a guide on how local authorities, and others, can present robust cases to court. This is available at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers to provide statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) animal sanctuaries and (b) rescue and rehoming centres on the challenges faced in providing for the welfare needs of animals.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra regularly engages with a range of stakeholders with an interest in animal welfare, including charities and regulatory agencies. We continue to explore opportunities to improve coordination and information sharing where appropriate.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason his Department has not yet responded to the 2024 fairer food labelling consultation.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. A summary of responses to this consultation is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 2024 consultation on fairer food labelling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. A summary of responses to this consultation is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the food and drink sector on food labelling in advance of the consultation on that issue.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Department is engaging with a range of key food and drink stakeholders as part of the development of the food strategy. We will provide further information by the summer.