Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's timescale is for launching a consultation on the use of cages for laying hens.
Answered by Steve Double
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 12 July 2022 to the hon. Member for Slough, PQ UIN 31904.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to ban the import of puppies under 24 weeks of age.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was reintroduced following the Queen's speech and will progress to Report stage in the commons as soon as parliamentary time allows. The Bill allows us to protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.
In August 2021, the Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. This included proposals to ban the import of puppies under the age of six months. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take on board the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published in May 2021, what plans his Department has to ban the import of (a) hunting trophies, (b) fur and (c) foie gras.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We will bring forward one of the toughest bans on the import of hunting trophies in the world and we are exploring a range of legislative options to further protect animals abroad.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help encourage supermarkets to ensure that low cost food ranges are stocked and accessible in smaller, high street stores.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra regularly engages supermarkets and discusses the cost-of-living issue, and we welcome the steps announced by some retailers to support both their workforce and customers. We will continue to explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food, for example, by maintaining value ranges, price matching and price freezing measures. However, it is not for the UK Government to set retail food prices nor to comment on day-to-day commercial decisions by companies.
We recognise that people are facing pressures with the increasing cost of living and that some people continue to require extra support. From this month, the Government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 introducing environmental impact labelling for food products and its potential impact on (a) consumer awareness and choice and (b) meeting the UK’s carbon emissions targets.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We want to empower consumers with more effective information to help them make healthier, greener, and more sustainable choices in their diet. As part of the Government’s Food Strategy, we are reviewing how food information can be improved - such as through labelling – so consumers can make more informed decisions whilst maintaining freedom of choice.
Currently, the specific impact of environmental labelling on purchasing behaviour in real world settings is under-researched. Defra have commissioned consumer insights work in order to strengthen the evidence base, to better understand the efficacy of eco-labelling upon consumer choice selection. This will also assist in understanding whether environmental labelling leads to more sustainable supply chains, in alignment with reducing the UK’s emissions targets.
The Government supports the work of WRAP, whose Courtauld 2030 voluntary agreement includes a target to reduce GHG emissions across the food supply chain. Courtauld's work includes agreeing a common set of emission factors, developing a standard for reporting on supply chain emissions in the food chain and reviewing the pathway to more robust emissions data governance. Although not explicitly linked to eco-labelling, this work aims to improve the data that would be required to underpin such a scheme.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What assessment he has had made of the potential effectiveness of providing free garden waste collections as proposed in the consultation on Consistency in Household and Business Recycling in England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A free minimum garden waste collection service reduces the amount of garden waste that ends up in landfill, minimising the release of harmful greenhouse gases. We will publish a final impact assessment and Government response with further analysis of this proposal and on alternative measures to increase the recycling of garden waste from households.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 is taking to ensure that covid-19 testing equipment can be recycled.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have provided guidance on gov.uk regarding the correct way to dispose of personal or business waste, including face coverings, personal protective equipment and lateral flow devices used for the asymptomatic testing of Covid-19: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste.
We have looked at recyclability of used devices but given that they are constructed of a number of polymers and contain small quantities of liquid, albeit non-hazardous, there are currently no processes that can recycle them. We have worked very closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Environment Agency, Public Health England and other stakeholders to ensure that these are managed as safely and effectively as possible but currently there are no recycling options available. This is under constant review.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of air quality monitoring stations in use in (a) Birmingham and (b) Manchester.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information about the number of sites in Defra’s national monitoring network is published on the UK Air Information Resource (UK-AIR), this is updated in real-time to provide a live representation of the national monitoring network.
There are 3 air quality monitoring sites which are part of Defra’s national monitoring networks located in Birmingham, out of a total of 8 sites in the West Midlands metropolitan county. In Manchester, there are 2 sites from a total of 6 in the Greater Manchester metropolitan county.
In addition to the national UK Air Quality monitoring networks, Local Authorities, businesses and academics carry out monitoring and modelling of air quality. Information on sites managed by Local Authorities and those that make up national networks managed by Defra can be found on UK-Air (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/networks/find-sites and https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/interactive-map).
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of air quality monitoring stations in use in London.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the national network of monitoring sites that the Environment Agency manages on Defra’s behalf, 15 new or upgraded instruments have been brought into service across 12 air quality monitoring sites across London since 2016.
There are currently 19 air quality monitoring sites which are part of Defra’s national monitoring networks located in London. In addition to the national UK Air Quality monitoring networks, Local Authorities, businesses and academics carry out monitoring and modelling of air quality.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many air pollution monitors in London have been upgraded since 2016.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the national network of monitoring sites that the Environment Agency manages on Defra’s behalf, 15 new or upgraded instruments have been brought into service across 12 air quality monitoring sites across London since 2016.
There are currently 19 air quality monitoring sites which are part of Defra’s national monitoring networks located in London. In addition to the national UK Air Quality monitoring networks, Local Authorities, businesses and academics carry out monitoring and modelling of air quality.