Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 potential merits of introducing licences for (a) capturing and (b) keeping in captivity (i) whales and (ii) dolphins.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The UK Government considers cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) to be highly intelligent, social animals, with complex needs that are unlikely to be met when removed from their natural marine habitat and kept in captivity. The Government does not see merit in licensing either the capture or the private keepership of whales and dolphins.
In addition, under the EU Habitats Directive and the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to deliberately disturb, harm, capture, or kill wild cetaceans. This provides strong legal protection preventing the taking of cetaceans for captivity from EU and UK waters.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the consultation on keeping farmed animals in cages.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given on 12 June 2023 to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington, PQ UIN 188176 and the hon. Member for Scunthorpe, PQ UIN 188424
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to protect rural communities from anti-social behaviour by hunts.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act, and completely bans hare coursing. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. Enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police.
Since the introduction of the Act, many hunt organisations across the country have worked hard to adapt their activities towards trail hunting, which is intended to retain important traditions as part of the fabric of rural life.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that fox hunts take place in compliance with the law.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act, and completely bans hare coursing. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. Enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police.
Since the introduction of the Act, many hunt organisations across the country have worked hard to adapt their activities towards trail hunting, which is intended to retain important traditions as part of the fabric of rural life.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with representatives of (a) supermarket chains and (b) retail associations on restraining price increases on essential food items.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra meets regularly with food retailers and trade associations to discuss a range of issues, including the impact of food inflation. Whilst my Department is taking action to maintain an efficient food supply chain by mitigating against any potential burdens or friction which could otherwise drive-up consumer food prices, we continue to use regular engagement to work with retailers and producers 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 HM Government to set retail food prices nor to comment on day-to-day commercial decisions by companies.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 trends in the level of profits earned by large supermarket chains during the rising cost of living.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has regular discussions with food retailers about a range of issues, including the impact of food price inflation. UK supermarket profit margins have historically been low with their business model relying on increasing volumes, not margins, to increase profits. Recently discount retailers, who aim to keep prices low and increase their market share, have pressured margins even further.
Profit margins were around 3% in 2021. Recently, prices have increased throughout the supply chain. ONS data provides no evidence that recent increases in consumer food price inflation have been disproportionate compared to increases in input prices paid by food manufacturers or producer prices paid by retailers. We have no reason to believe that supermarket profit margins have significantly increased recently but Defra remains interested in the trends emerging from data released by the sector.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 regulations to tackle waste caused by disposable vape products.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Disposable vapes are covered by the Government’s regulations on producer responsibility for waste electrical and electronic equipment. Defra has not undertaken an assessment of the potential merits of introducing additional regulations at this time.
Our current priority is to work with regulators and the vaping sector to ensure producers, internet sellers and retailers of vaping products understand their obligations under environmental legislation and comply.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish a consultation on the law surrounding the use of cages for farmed animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to exploring the phasing out of confinement systems, supporting the industry to do so in a way which underpins UK food security. We need to work carefully and sensitively with all sectors, ensuring any move towards cage free systems does not have unintended animal welfare or business impacts.
This is an extremely challenging time for Britain’s farmers, with enormously increased input costs — of food, fuel and fertiliser — affecting almost all production systems, and for the general public who are faced with significant challenges around the cost of living. The poultry sector is also dealing with the largest ever avian influenza outbreak.
Any decisions by Government on the timing of public consultation around this issue must be carefully considered in light of these wider priorities. We will progress with plans to consult on the use of cages in farming systems as soon as the time is right.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 including a ban on all non-essential uses of (a) Perfluoroalkyl and (b) Polyfluoroalkyl substances as part of the UK Chemical Strategy.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In the UK REACH Work Programme for 2021-22, Defra asked the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive to examine the risks posed by Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and develop a 'Regulatory Management Options Analysis' (RMOA). The RMOA and other work across HM Government will help us assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches. The RMOA will be published in due course and will make recommendations for risk management measures. Defra and the Devolved Administrations will carefully consider its recommendations to inform future PFAS policy.
We have been engaging closely with external partners over the past few months to inform policy development across a range of chemicals issues. This builds on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to set out our strategy to tackling chemicals of concern. No publication date for a Chemicals Strategy has yet been set.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 the production of the UK’s Chemical Strategy.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In the UK REACH Work Programme for 2021-22, Defra asked the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive to examine the risks posed by Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and develop a 'Regulatory Management Options Analysis' (RMOA). The RMOA and other work across HM Government will help us assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches. The RMOA will be published in due course and will make recommendations for risk management measures. Defra and the Devolved Administrations will carefully consider its recommendations to inform future PFAS policy.
We have been engaging closely with external partners over the past few months to inform policy development across a range of chemicals issues. This builds on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to set out our strategy to tackling chemicals of concern. No publication date for a Chemicals Strategy has yet been set.