Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
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 reduce the (a) use of cage systems for farm animals and (b) routine preventative use of antibiotics in farms.
Answered by George Eustice
There are no plans to change the current legislation on colony cages for laying hens. However, we are preparing a new statutory laying hen code which will provide up to date guidance on how to comply with the legislation.
We have made it very clear that we do not support the routine preventative use of antibiotics, or the use of antibiotics to compensate for poor animal husbandry. This is reflected in the revised “Responsible use of animal medicines on the farm” guidelines published in December 2014. We continue to work with the UK veterinary profession and livestock industry to:
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of puppies being smuggled illegally into the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
We take the issue of illegal trafficking of puppies very seriously, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are gathering intelligence to help us understand the size of the problem regarding puppy smuggling.
Defra and APHA work constructively with other government agencies and charities to share intelligence on illegal movements of pet animals. APHA has established an intelligence team which will gather data, intelligence and information on illegal movement of dogs and puppies and, as appropriate, share with enforcement bodies.
APHA works in partnership with the Dogs Trust and Kent County Council to identify and seize dogs and puppies which were not compliant with the requirements as part of a pilot project at Dover responding to intelligence on potential non-compliance. Approximately 600 puppies have been seized and taken into quarantine since the initiative began in December 2015.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve recycling solutions for polyethylene-lined paper cups.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for West Ham, Lyn Brown, on 9 September 2016, PQ UIN 44382.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers and officials of her Department have had with coffee chain companies on the disposal and recycling of take-away cups.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
This Government remains committed to recycling and will be consulting widely on our plans for resources, waste and recycling in developing our 25 year environment plan engagement framework. We also continue to work with businesses, local authorities and waste managers on policies and initiatives to encourage recycling.
Defra Ministers, officials and I have had a number of discussions with a range of stakeholders in drawing up our 25 year environmental plan and in developing ongoing policy; as part of these discussions, companies and representative trade organisations will raise issues and ideas about specific products or treatments.
As part of our ongoing stakeholder engagement, Defra officials were involved in discussions regarding the development of the Paper Cup Recycling and Recovery Group Manifesto and attended its launch on 27 June 2016. This manifesto aims to significantly increase paper cup recycling rates by 2020 and includes coffee chain companies as signatories.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Department for Transport on giving the Environmental Agency responsibility as an independent aviation air quality authority.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Defra has had no discussions with the Department for Transport about giving the Environment Agency responsibility as an independent aviation air quality authority.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
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 Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential effect on air quality standards of proposals to increase the tax on low and ultra-low emission company car drivers in the HM Revenue and Customs consultation on salary sacrifice for the provision of benefits-in-kind, published on 10 August 2016.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Defra officials meet regularly with HM Treasury to discuss a variety of measures relating to air quality.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
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 her French counterpart on that country's global initiative to increase carbon levels in soil.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Secretary of State discussed this Government’s support for the COP21 Paris initiative to promote carbon levels in soil with French Agriculture, Agri-Food and Forestry Minister Stéphane Le Foll at a ‘Climate Friendly Landscapes’ meeting hosted by the Prince of Wales' International Sustainability Unit on 26 October.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
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 (a) availability and (b) affordability of contents insurance for renters in at-risk flood areas.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Content insurance is widely available to tenants in high flood risk areas, with the Flood Re scheme helping this to be affordable. The Scheme has provided backing to 53,000 policies since its launch in April 2016.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what work her Department is doing with other countries to prevent the (a) global trade in illegal hunting trophies and (b) trade and importation of illegal hunting trophies in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The UK remains committed to working with our international partners to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, including trade in illegal hunting trophies. This is why we have invested £13 million through our illegal wildlife trade Challenge Fund to support international projects, reduce global demand for illegal wildlife products, strengthen law enforcement and help rebuild affected communities. We have been a leading player in global efforts to date, hosting the ground-breaking London Conference in 2014 and supporting follow up conferences in Botswana in 2015 and Vietnam in 2016.
Importing controls are implemented at an EU-wide level and the UK works with other EU Member States to agree a collective approach, ensuring that illegal hunting trophies are not imported into the UK.
The UK has been actively involved in the development of a proposal for enhanced global rules on hunting trophies to be considered at the 17th Conference of CITES Parties, which takes place from 24 September to 5 October. The proposal aims to enhance existing guidelines to ensure that robust controls are in place to assess the sustainability of hunting on the population of the species in question.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria her Department used to make the decision on new licenses for badger culling in Cornwall, Herefordshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Dorset.
Answered by George Eustice
The criteria Natural England uses when assessing applications for licences for the purpose of preventing the spread of bovine tuberculosis under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 can be found on the gov.uk website at www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-natural-england-preventing-spread-of-bovine-tb