Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether they have made an estimate of the potential impact of abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion roles in their Department on annual staffing costs.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra group is committed to enabling an inclusive and respectful culture with thriving workplaces where all colleagues are valued and treated fairly. This maximises our potential to innovate, collaborate and deliver first-class outcomes for our citizens. We work hard to ensure EDI is mainstreamed in the way we develop and deliver our work and in making sure Defra group has a diverse workforce that is fully enabled to deliver.
The delivery of EDI activity and staffing requirements is decided by Departments as the employer. To support mainstreaming EDI, we continue to have a small number of dedicated EDI roles and have no plans to abolish those and therefore there is no estimate to provide on abolition of these roles.
The department's EDI roles continue the Civil Service Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Expenditure guidance, published in May 2024, including that all EDI roles are appropriately situated within HR functions.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 of the potential merits of strengthening protections for cruelty against (a) dogs, (b) cats and (c) ferrets.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is an offence under Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, subject to a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation.
The Department has initiated a series of meetings with key animal welfare stakeholders as part of the development of an overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more detail of plans in due course.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is using AI software in responding to written parliamentary questions.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
No, Defra has not used AI software to respond to written parliamentary questions.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 impact of blocked drains on flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The role of any Government is to protect its citizens which is why, under our Plan for Change, a record £2.65 billion will be invested over two years in better protecting 52,000 properties by March 2026. Around 1,000 projects will receive funding in 24/25 and 25/26.
Blocked and damaged drainage infrastructure can exacerbate flooding risks. Drain and sewer blockages occur for a number of reasons, including by misuse of the sewer system. Small but significant steps in households, such as not pouring fats and oils down the plughole and not flushing wet wipes or other plastic products down the toilet can help prevent sewer flooding, and in turn mitigate surface water flooding, as well as protect rivers’ water quality.
The Environment Agency has strategic overview for all flood risk in England, however, it is for Lead Local Flood Authorities to develop local interventions to reduce surface water flood risk. Local flood risks should be identified and managed as part of a local flood risk management strategy, in cooperation with local highway authorities, which are responsible for highway and gully maintenance, as well as water and sewerage companies, which have a duty to maintain their sewers, under Section 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991, to ensure their areas are effectually drained.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing plastic straws.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has not made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing plastic straws. However, the Department is currently conducting a post-implementation review of the Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020 to ensure it is fit for purpose.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 has taken to reduce fly-tipping in Mid Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are often best placed to respond to fly-tipping. They have a range of enforcement powers which we encourage them to make good use of.
In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
In the meantime, Defra will continue to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities, to promote good practice on tackling fly-tipping. Various practical tools, including ‘how to’ guides covering key issues, are also available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many employee settlement agreements there were in his Department in each year since 2020; and what the total value of such agreements is.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Between 2020 and 2024 to date, Defra has agreed six settlement agreements: one in 2021, two in 2022, two in 2023 and one in 2024 to date. The total cost of these settlements is £234,200.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish guidance on the simpler recycling scheme for local authorities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recently confirmed its commitment to delivering the Collection and Packaging Reforms to the announced timelines, including Simpler Recycling, subject to spending review outcomes. Ministers are reviewing the final detail of the Simpler Recycling policy; we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on prohibiting the practice of tethering horses by (a) roadsides and (b) on (i) common and (ii) waste grounds.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), it is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. The 2006 Act is backed up by the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids which provides owners with information on how to meet the welfare needs of their equines.
As stated in the code, tethering is not a suitable method of long-term management of an animal. It should only be used as a short-term method. People who do not tether their horses appropriately risk causing their animals distress and suffering.
Local authorities have powers under the 2006 Act to act to intervene where an animal is suspected to be suffering on any land, public or private.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs travelled to the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme via (a) sea, (b) tunnel and (c) air in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Means of Transport | January – December 2023 | January – August 2024 |
Air | 14,196 | 10,904 |
Sea | 98,090 | 81,603 |
Tunnel | 176,423 | 142,142 |
Total | 288,709 | 234,649 |
The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. Please be aware that this is subject to change as we often receive throughput returns from carriers months later.