Neil Parish

The Pet Travel and Illegal import clauses of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill focus on measures to improve welfare of pets entering Great Britain. We remain aware of the concerns around ticks and tick-borne disease and tapeworm in cats and our future policy will be guided by risk assessment. Defra also continues to monitor the disease situation through the Tick Surveillance Scheme.

The Pet Travel and Illegal import clauses of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill focus on measures to improve welfare of pets entering GB. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. Defra continues to monitor the disease situation.

The Government will always champion greater consumption of our excellent British food and drink, including from British farmers and local producers. The Government Buying Standards for Food (GBSF) encourages the procurement of UK seasonal and locally produced food.

Defra is launching a public consultation this summer to review the GBSF. We want to enhance the GBSF in line with recent Government policy initiatives around promoting local produce, social value and environment and resource management.

The consultation will seek views as to how public sector food procurement can assist the Government in achieving net zero carbon emissions. This will include proposals for procuring from more sustainable farming systems, as well as ensuring caterers use energy efficient equipment and move away from food waste management to waste reduction.

We will also be seeking views on how the standards could be used to promote even greater uptake of locally produced food by public procurers and their suppliers.

In addition, Defra is working closely with the Crown Commercial Service to develop the Future Food Framework in the South West region. The trial will create significant new opportunities for our farmers and local producers to supply regional public sector bodies.

The Government is committed to improving the welfare standards of all animal journeys. We are continuously assessing the available scientific evidence on improving animal welfare during transport and are committed to commissioning new research where it is needed in order to develop the evidence base further.

We launched a Call for Evidence, in 2018, on controlling live exports for slaughter and improving animal welfare during transport and, that same year, commissioned Scotland’s Rural University College and the University of Edinburgh to produce a systematic review of the evidence on welfare aspects of the transport of live animals.

The Government asked the then Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC, now Animal Welfare Committee) to provide an opinion on improving the welfare of animals during transport. FAWC considered the evidence obtained from the Call for Evidence; the report of the systematic review; as well as their engagement with stakeholders before submitting their opinion and recommendations.

We launched a consultation in England and Wales in 2020 on improvements to the domestic welfare in transport regime, informed by the recommendations from FAWC’s report. We will shortly be publishing our response to the consultation and outlining how we will take reforms forward.

The Government is committed to improving the welfare standards of all animal journeys. We are continuously assessing the available scientific evidence on improving animal welfare during transport and are committed to commissioning new research where it is needed in order to develop the evidence base further.

We launched a Call for Evidence, in 2018, on controlling live exports for slaughter and improving animal welfare during transport and, that same year, commissioned Scotland’s Rural University College and the University of Edinburgh to produce a systematic review of the evidence on welfare aspects of the transport of live animals.

The Government asked the then Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC, now Animal Welfare Committee) to provide an opinion on improving the welfare of animals during transport. FAWC considered the evidence obtained from the Call for Evidence; the report of the systematic review; as well as their engagement with stakeholders before submitting their opinion and recommendations.

We launched a consultation in England and Wales in 2020 on improvements to the domestic welfare in transport regime, informed by the recommendations from FAWC’s report. We will shortly be publishing our response to the consultation and outlining how we will take reforms forward.

Now that the UK has left the European Union we have the opportunity to chart our own course in organic regulation, setting rules around organic production and certification that suit the needs of our domestic organics industry.

We are working to streamline bureaucratic processes inherited from the EU regulatory system to allow for a more flexible and responsive way to handle our regulatory obligations while reducing costs for producers and the burden on the public purse.

The Agriculture Act 2020 gives us powers to amend the organics regime to support organic farmers further, benefit the environment, maintain consumer confidence, promote research and innovation in the sector, and reflect future trade agreements. In due course we will consult with organic producers and industry bodies on how to boost innovation, improve governance of organic certification, group certification and making entry into organic production appealing for new entrants.

We are working closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders collaboratively to design the new schemes that reward environmental benefits.

The new schemes will fairly compensate farmers for environmental goods generated across all land types and farm management systems, including organic farms.

Several representatives of the organic sector are involved in codesigning the schemes in a variety of ways, including being part of our stakeholder and codesign groups, as well as separate one to one and small group meetings.

The Government has not made a specific assessment on the numbers of dogs with illegally cropped ears but we continue to raise awareness regarding the improper selling of pets by deceitful sellers in the UK and abroad through our ‘Petfished’ campaign. This seeks to educate prospective pet buyers on common tricks and tactics used by deceitful sellers which may result in the purchase of a mistreated or unwell pet, including those that have been subject to cropping. The campaign urges buyers to mitigate risks, for example by buying from trusted sellers such as those under the Kennel Club’s Assured Breeder scheme, viewing puppies with their mothers and siblings, asking questions of the seller and following the Animal Welfare Foundation and RSPCA Puppy Contract to ensure that puppies are in good health when purchased.

The practice of mutilating dogs’ ears is abhorrent and has rightly been banned in the UK for 15 years. The maximum penalty for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal or cropping a dog’s ears in England is six months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. However, the Government is committed to increasing the maximum custodial penalty for both of these offences from six months to five years. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill, currently before Parliament, which will implement this increase, will continue to receive Government support as it completes its passage through Parliament.

We already have some of the world’s highest animal welfare standards. The end of the transition period has opened up new opportunities for managing our own pet travel and commercial importation rules. We are actively listening to the concerns of stakeholders and the Government is considering options regarding the importation and commercial movements of dogs with cropped ears into Great Britain in line with World Trade Organization rules.

Importers of animals must adhere to welfare standards as set out in Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and in domestic legislation, The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 (WATEO). This legislation aims to protect the health and welfare of animals during transportation and applies to dogs that are suffering injury as a result of non-exempted mutilations including cropped ears.

Air pollution poses one of the biggest environmental threats to public health. Our ambitious plans to decarbonise transport, improve air quality and support more active forms of travel have not changed, including the £3.8 billion we are already investing to clean up our air.

The 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) Concentrations sets out how we will achieve compliance with legal NO₂ limits in the shortest possible time. We are continuing to work closely with those local authorities identified to assist them in developing local plans to tackle NO₂ exceedances. These plans can include charging Clean Air Zones (CAZ) although other measures that are at least as effective are preferred. We rigorously assess local plans to make sure they will deliver reductions in NO₂ levels in the shortest possible time.

To help them focus on their response to coronavirus, we agreed with Leeds and Birmingham’s requests to delay the introduction of CAZ until after January 2021. However, CAZ development work is continuing, and we are working to deliver compliance as soon as possible. Our recent rapid call for evidence will ensure we can fully understand the impact that coronavirus is having on changes in air pollution emissions, concentrations and exposure. Recent Automatic Urban and Rural Network provisional NO₂ data from 23 March to 15 June shows that average NO₂ levels decreased by 45%. It is not clear that these reductions will be maintained long term. Improving air quality as soon as possible remains vital and we continue to engage with local authorities and keep plans for all CAZ under constant review.

Air pollution poses one of the biggest environmental threats to public health. Our ambitious plans to decarbonise transport, improve air quality and support more active forms of travel have not changed, including the £3.8 billion we are already investing to clean up our air.

The 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) Concentrations sets out how we will achieve compliance with legal NO₂ limits in the shortest possible time. We are continuing to work closely with those local authorities identified to assist them in developing local plans to tackle NO₂ exceedances. These plans can include charging Clean Air Zones (CAZ) although other measures that are at least as effective are preferred. We rigorously assess local plans to make sure they will deliver reductions in NO₂ levels in the shortest possible time.

To help them focus on their response to coronavirus, we agreed with Leeds and Birmingham’s requests to delay the introduction of CAZ until after January 2021. However, CAZ development work is continuing, and we are working to deliver compliance as soon as possible. Our recent rapid call for evidence will ensure we can fully understand the impact that coronavirus is having on changes in air pollution emissions, concentrations and exposure. Recent Automatic Urban and Rural Network provisional NO₂ data from 23 March to 15 June shows that average NO₂ levels decreased by 45%. It is not clear that these reductions will be maintained long term. Improving air quality as soon as possible remains vital and we continue to engage with local authorities and keep plans for all CAZ under constant review.

Air pollution poses one of the biggest environmental threats to public health. Our ambitious plans to decarbonise transport, improve air quality and support more active forms of travel have not changed, including the £3.8 billion we are already investing to clean up our air.

The 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) Concentrations sets out how we will achieve compliance with legal NO₂ limits in the shortest possible time. We are continuing to work closely with those local authorities identified to assist them in developing local plans to tackle NO₂ exceedances. These plans can include charging Clean Air Zones (CAZ) although other measures that are at least as effective are preferred. We rigorously assess local plans to make sure they will deliver reductions in NO₂ levels in the shortest possible time.

To help them focus on their response to coronavirus, we agreed with Leeds and Birmingham’s requests to delay the introduction of CAZ until after January 2021. However, CAZ development work is continuing, and we are working to deliver compliance as soon as possible. Our recent rapid call for evidence will ensure we can fully understand the impact that coronavirus is having on changes in air pollution emissions, concentrations and exposure. Recent Automatic Urban and Rural Network provisional NO₂ data from 23 March to 15 June shows that average NO₂ levels decreased by 45%. It is not clear that these reductions will be maintained long term. Improving air quality as soon as possible remains vital and we continue to engage with local authorities and keep plans for all CAZ under constant review.

The Government plans to bring forward at least one target in each of the four priority areas by the Environment Bill’s 31 October 2022 deadline. Targets will be developed based on robust, scientifically credible evidence, as well as economic analysis. We want them to be ambitious, credible and supported by society.

The Government remains committed to supporting the long-term profitability of our fishing industry in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. On 17 April 2020 it launched a £10 million financial assistance package for England's fishing and aquaculture businesses which included a £1 million grant scheme to support the sale of fish locally.

We have left the EU, and at the end of the Transition Period will leave the Common Fisheries Policy. We will take back control of our waters to secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities for the UK fishing industry and will develop a world-class fisheries management regime to the benefit of industry. The Fisheries Bill will give us the necessary powers to manage fisheries as an independent coastal State. New, domestic, long-term funding arrangements will support the UK's fishing industry from 2021. We are working closely with the industry and others to ensure that the trade of seafood with the EU can continue after the end of the Transition Period.

A number of schemes are available to support fisheries and aquaculture businesses and a summary can be found via the link below:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/883851/Support_for_fishing_industry_one_stop_shop_v20.pdf

The Government will continue to listen to stakeholder views on the temporary tariff policy announced on 13 March. The Government does this through a variety of channels including direct correspondence and meetings with consumer organisations, business and business representative organisations, and other interest groups.

In the short-term, the Government would remain responsive to the needs of UK businesses and consumers as the UK leaves the EU. The temporary tariff will apply for up to 12 months. During this time, the Government would provide a mechanism to hear business and consumer feedback and would consider exceptional changes where clear evidence is provided by stakeholders against the criteria set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act. We will provide further details on this mechanism in due course.

The Government has also committed to conducting a public consultation to inform our permanent tariff policy, which will take effect after the temporary period. This will enable the views of a wide range of businesses to be heard. We will provide details of this public consultation in due course.

On 18 July the Prime Minister announced that the Government will bring forward the first Environment Bill in over 20 years. This will incorporate a range of issues including improving air quality and builds on the vision set out in our 25 Year Environment Plan. As we develop these proposals, we will consider the best way to reform the existing legislative framework.

Tree health risks are systematically assessed through the publically available UK Plant Risk Register (approximately one third of the nearly 1000 pests and diseases on the register are forestry pests and diseases), risks are reviewed monthly and prioritised for actions such as surveillance. Forestry Commission carry out aerial and ground based surveillance on priority risks to tree health, including Phytophthora ramorum, oak processionary moth, ash dieback and the results are published on the Forestry Commission website.

In 2015-16 there were 2,135 prosecutions by local authorities for fly-tipping offences with a total of £677,000 raised in fines. In 2016-17 the figures were 1,571 prosecutions and £723,000 in fines. 98% of prosecutions result in a conviction. Additionally in 2015-16 there were 36,000 fixed penalty notices issued for fly-tipping offences which increased to 56,000 in 2016-17.

The statistics are published annually by Defra and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england

The Environment Secretary has set out his intention to publish a consultation paper on the future of domestic agriculture policy later this spring.

The paper will set out our proposals for the future of agriculture and the opportunities for all sectors, including horticulture. We look forward to receiving consultation responses from across industry in due course.

Usability testing has been successfully completed. Defra’s supplier is working closely with Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs) to prepare and import their historical passport records into the Central Equine Database, with two thirds of PIOs having now provided data. Enforcement bodies including Local Authorities and the Food Standards Agency are able to search records and the database will be fully operational for PIOs by Spring.

Defra assesses compliance against EU air quality limit values for 43 regional zones and agglomerations across the UK. The compliance assessment is contained in the annual compliance reports which are accessible on the UK-AIR website: uk-air.defra.gov.uk. We do not hold compliance data at local authority level.

Air quality data from Defra’s national monitoring network is routinely published on the UK-AIR website and can be searched by location. In addition, many local authorities monitor air quality at local level and make this data available.

We recently consulted on proposals to transpose the Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD). We are proposing to amend the current England and Wales environmental permitting regime to implement the MCPD which will be transposed into law by December 2017.

New plants will be required to comply with the MCPD emission limits by 20 December 2018. Existing plants with a rated thermal input >5MW will be required to comply by 1 January 2025 whilst existing plants with a rated thermal input

While Defra has not carried out a specific assessment regarding the deployment of low nitrogen oxide fuel cell generators in inner cities, the Government welcomes the development of lower emissions technologies and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has recently provided innovation funding to a project developing a low temperature solid oxide fuel cell that would be suitable for deployment in cities. Defra has also recently consulted on regulations to reduce emissions from high nitrogen oxide generators.

The number of additional staff the Department has employed on both fixed term and a permanent basis since 23 June 2016 until 23 January 2017 is 215.

This figure includes internal transfers and Civil Servants from Other Government Departments.

A summary of the meeting I held on 19 November 2015 with the Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group is publicly available on its web site:

http://www.sheepdipsufferers.uk/campaigning/Summary%20of%20meeting.pdf.

My hon. Friend will be aware that I met the Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group about a year ago and discussed this issue in depth. The Committee on Toxicity has looked at this issue exhaustively, examining 26 different studies over a period of more than a decade, and concluded that in the absence of acute poisoning there would not be meaningful long-term effects.

To the best of my knowledge there is no new scientific evidence available that would alter this conclusion. I am sympathetic to farmers suffering from ill health but at this time I do not feel a further meeting would be beneficial.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has recorded the number of reports of suspected adverse reactions in humans to OP dips received each year since records began in 1985. To date this figure is 634. To the best of the VMD’s knowledge this is most comprehensive dataset available.

The Sheep Scab (Revocation) Order 1992 revoked The Sheep Scab (National Dip) Order 1990, the Sheep Scab (National Dip) (Amendment) Order 1991 and the Sheep Scab Order 1992. This consequently ended the compulsory annual sheep dipping requirement.

The Government released information explaining why the decision was taken to end compulsory dipping, and the conclusions of the VPC reviews of organophosphate sheep dips at the time in May of this year. I sent a letter, explaining this, to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and this was copied to Tom Rigby of the Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group.

The 2014 findings of the COT review on the health effects of the exposure to organophosphates is in the public domain and can be found on the COT’s website: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140909095303/http:/cot.food.gov.uk/cotstatements/cotstatementsyrs/cotstatements2014/cotstatorg.