Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers he has to ban the importation and sale in of foie gras made by force-feeding in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare, and we have made clear that the production of foie gras using forcing feeding raises serious welfare concerns.
However, until the end of the Transition Period, we are required to observe the relevant EU law which places restrictions on the introduction of measures that impair the movement of goods, such as foie gras.
Once our future relationship with the EU has been established there will be an opportunity for the Government to consider further the steps it could take in relation to the import or sale of foie gras.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
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 9 October 2020 to Question 97481 on Animals: Exports, if he will make it his policy to ban all exports of live animals for slaughter.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Farm Animal Welfare Committee has reported to us on animal welfare issues concerning live exports and noted that animals should only be transported if absolutely necessary. We are carefully considering the report and recommendations in terms of what they mean for ending excessively long journeys. We intend to launch a consultation on how we deliver on our manifesto commitment later this year.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
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 9 October 2020 to Question 97481, when he plans to launch the consultation on a ban on the export of live animals for slaughter.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Farm Animal Welfare Committee has reported to us on animal welfare issues concerning live exports and noted that animals should only be transported if absolutely necessary. We are carefully considering the report and recommendations in terms of what they mean for ending excessively long journeys. We intend to launch a consultation on how we deliver on our manifesto commitment later this year.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
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 9 October 2020 to Question 97481 on Animals: Exports, how his Department defines excessively long journeys; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Farm Animal Welfare Committee has reported to us on animal welfare issues concerning live exports and noted that animals should only be transported if absolutely necessary. We are carefully considering the report and recommendations in terms of what they mean for ending excessively long journeys. We intend to launch a consultation on how we deliver on our manifesto commitment later this year.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the export of live animals for slaughter on or before 1 January 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply given to the Rt. Hon. Member for Chipping Barnet on 11 June 2020, PQ UIN 55899.
[questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-06-08/55899]
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research her Department has undertaken into the environmental effect of the spread of rubber granules from artificial grass playing fields.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sport England is working with partners including the Sport and Play Construction Association (SAPCA), British Standards Institute (BSI), Institute of Groundsmanship and the NGBs to update guidance on artificial surfaces (Artificial Surfaces for Outdoor Sports) to include recommended measures to help minimise the environmental impact of rubber crumb microplastics. We expect the updated guidance to be published this year.
My department has not commissioned research into the environmental effect of the spread of rubber granules from artificial grass playing fields.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what alternatives are available to rubber granules used for stabilisation in artificial grass playing fields.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Rubber granules used as infill on artificial playing fields have been proved to be hard wearing and able to provide sports performance and athlete protection. Sport England isn’t aware of any acceptable suitable alternative infill materials that can be used to replace the rubber crumb on existing pitches. This is because the alternatives, such as cork and coconut fibre do not equal performance qualities such as shock absorption and density.
Non-filled long-pile artificial grass surfaces have been developed and introduced to the market, but to date, none have been found to satisfy the sports performance and player welfare requirements of FIFA and World Rugby.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
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 potential merits of the creation of a specific mark to enable consumers to identify meat, poultry and fish that has been pre-stunned before slaughter (a) now and (b) after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government is aware that there is public concern about meat from animals slaughtered in accordance with religious beliefs being sold to consumers who do not require their meat to be prepared in this way, and that there are calls for such meat to be labelled.
There are currently no specific EU or national requirements governing the sale and labelling of Halal or Kosher meat. Where any information of this nature is provided voluntarily, it must be accurate and must not be misleading.
The Government believes that consumers should have the necessary information to enable them to make an informed choice about their food. This is an issue the Government is considering in the context of the UK’s departure from the EU.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to encourage manufacturers to recycle material recovered from fossil fuel powered vehicles to help develop (a) new and (b) existing industries; and if will he make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005 set a material reuse and recycling rate of 85% for cars and vans (to 3.5 tonnes), no matter how they are fuelled, and an overall recovery rate of 95%. Obligations to meet these targets are placed on vehicle manufacturers and the treatment chain. Latest available figures are for 2015, when rates of 87.3% and 96.9% were achieved respectively.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the Government plans to ensure that the environmental effects of vehicle battery manufacture, use and disposal are minimised; and if he will he make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There are already a number of requirements applying to automotive battery manufacture, use and disposal. These include obligations under:
The Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2008
The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009
The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003
The End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005
There are controls on the materials used in battery manufacture and measures designed to maximise the recycling of automotive batteries, which are banned from disposal to landfill. Producers of automotive batteries must collect waste automotive batteries free of charge from final holders, on request, and batteries must be treated at appropriately permitted facilities.