Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to require fishermen to be licensed in order to slaughter seals that threaten their fishing stocks.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Seal conservation is a devolved issue so I can only respond with respect to England. Approximately 85% of the UK seal population is in Scotland and the Scottish Government has its own legislation concerning the protection of seals.
Seals in England are primarily protected by the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. Under this Act, it is an offence to take or kill common and grey seals out of season or to use certain methods to kill or take, unless permitted to do so by a licence issued under the Act.
Fishermen are only permitted to kill or take seals in limited circumstances, without the need for a licence, to protect their fishing equipment or fish therein if the seal is in the vicinity of the equipment at that time.
The Conservation of Seals Act 1970 strikes a proportionate balance between the conservation and welfare of the seals and the needs of those impacted by individual problem seals. We have no plans to review this legislative protection.
There is no evidence to suggest that the limited local control of seals permitted in England is having an adverse effect on the conservation status of the UK seal population as a whole.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of animals which died from consumption of ethylene-glycol based anti-freeze in the last year; and what steps the Government has taken to reduce the number of animal deaths from ingestion of that substance.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We have no estimate for the number of animals that have died from ingesting anti-freeze. In common with most chemicals supplied for domestic use, anti-freeze is covered by the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations. These require suppliers of dangerous chemicals to give information about the potential hazards to their customers, usually provided on the package itself.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of compliance by puppy farms with regulations relating to the breeding and sale of puppies.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra has not made any assessment of the level of compliance with dog breeding regulations. It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that licensed dog breeders comply with the relevant regulations. On 13 November, my department wrote to all local authorities in England reminding them of the definition of a licensed dog breeding establishment under the relevant legislation in order to ensure that dog breeders are appropriately regulated.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of compliance with the Weeds Act 1959 across the UK.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We have not made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Weeds Act 1959 across the UK. Natural England (the delegated authority for investigating complaints about injurious weeds) monitors compliance with the Act through the collection of data such as the number of enforcement notices issued per year.
There were 37 enforcement notices in 2013. However, we encourage communications between landowners and complainants to try and resolve any issues informally. In the vast majority of cases, this approach is successful.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what current legislative proposals there are for the better control of Japanese knotweed.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Japanese knotweed is listed on Schedule 9 and subject to Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to plant this species in the wild or cause it to grow in the wild.
Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides local authorities with a discretionary power to require the landowner to clean up 'land adversely affecting the amenity of the neighbourhood’. Local authorities also have the power to undertake clean-up works themselves under Section 215 and to recover costs from the landowner. However, the decision whether to take action in individual cases is a matter for the local authority concerned, which will need to take into account all the local circumstances.
Since 20 October, local councils and police have the power to issue Community Protection Notices (CPNs) under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. CPNs can be used against individuals or businesses who are acting unreasonably and who persistently or continually act in a way that has a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality. If this test is met then a written warning should be given. If this warning fails to stop the anti-social behaviour then a CPN may be issued. This will require an individual or business to stop the anti-social behaviour identified in the notice, for example to control or prevent the growth of Japanese knotweed or any other invasive species. A breach of a CPN is a criminal offence.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the property and mortgage industries regarding the impact of Japanese knotweed on property values.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the property and mortgage industries regarding the impact of Japanese Knotweed on property values.
The Government does not intervene directly in such matters as it is the right of mortgage lenders to choose to whom they lend money and what conditions should apply to any agreement, which could include the seller having to provide insurance.
An information paper was published in 2011 by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to encourage mortgage lenders to view Japanese knotweed as just one of the many factors that may affect property value. It advocates that mortgage lenders draw up knotweed management plans with the buyer and, where possible, owners of affected neighbouring properties.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Schedule 9 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in controlling the spread of (a) Japanese knotweed and (b) other non-native plant species.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Listing species on Schedule 9 is just one measure, adopted in line with the GB Invasive Non-Native Species Strategy, used to tackle the establishment and spread of invasive non-native plants. The GB Strategy is currently in the process of being reviewed. However, without the restrictions provided by section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it would be legal to plant, or cause to grow in the wild, those species listed on the Schedule, including Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the UK upholds its international obligations to prevent the illegal trade of ivory and rhino horns.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government is taking a leading role in global efforts to end the illegal wildlife trade.
In February 2014 we hosted a high-level international conference for leaders from over 40 nations. The Conference resulted in the London Conference Declaration, containing 25 commitments to action on enforcement and criminal justice, demand reduction and sustainable livelihoods. The UK is actively supporting Botswana in hosting a further Conference to review progress in March 2015.
We are engaged with a wide range of international organisations and initiatives focused on combatting the illegal wildlife trade and supported the development of a UN resolution on illegal wildlife trade at the UN Environment Assembly earlier this year. The UK also supports organisations active in this field, such as the International Consortium for Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), a partnership of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Bank and the World Customs Organization.
The global effort to regulate international wildlife trade, which includes work to combat illegal wildlife trade, is undertaken within the framework of CITES, in which the UK plays a leading role. The UK is chair of the Rhino Working Group of the CITES Standing Committee and has funded an ICCWC coordinator post within the CITES Secretariat.
In December 2013, Defra and the Department for International Development announced a £10 million package to support efforts to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife products, including rhino horn and elephant ivory. This will enable the Government to support projects from developing countries which tackle the illegal wildlife trade, to be allocated through a competitive “Challenge Fund”. We hope to announce shortly the projects which were successful.