Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 effectiveness of the single animal activities licensing regime to regulate online sales.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra is currently in the process of developing a new single animal activities licensing regime. The regulations will be laid in Parliament before they come into force next year. The regulations will be clear that anyone in the business of selling pet animals will need a licence whether this is carried out from a traditional pet shop or online. Commercial pet animal advertisers will also be required to include certain information in their advertisements including details of their licence.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of dog breeding premises operating without a licence.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not hold official statistics on the number of dog breeders and pet shops operating without a licence. Defra is currently in the process of developing a new single animal activities licensing regime. The regulations will be laid in Parliament before they come into force next year. The new regime will reduce the threshold by which people will need a dog breeding licence from five litters or more per year to three litters or more per year. This should result in more dog breeders requiring a licence. The new regime will make it clear for local authorities which individual activities need to be licensed.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to introduce a standardised form of inspection for pet shops and dog breeders.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra is currently in the process of developing a new single animal activities licensing regime. The regulations will be laid in Parliament before they come into force next year. Pet shops and dog breeders will need to meet statutory minimum welfare standards which reflect the welfare requirements of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Local authorities will need to have regard to supporting statutory guidance to help them apply the standards.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 effectiveness of congestion zone charging in reducing levels of nitrogen oxide.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The effectiveness of both low emission zones and congestion zone charging in reducing levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been considered in the ‘Evidence review on effectiveness of transport measures in reducing nitrogen dioxide’ (Defra and Ricardo Energy & Environment, 2016), which is available online at: uk-air.defra.gov.uk.
The UK plan for tackling roadside NO2 is clear that a range of measures which improve air quality could also reduce congestion, including improving local bus services and changing road layouts at pinch points.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted in Southampton in the last seven years.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Neither Defra nor the Forestry Commission records the planting data of projects that are not funded directly by either Defra or FC. Many local authorities fund their own tree planting projects; therefore, they record their own planting data. As the information requested is not collated centrally it could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on the total new planting in England (in hectares), including planting from all other recorded sources, are available from the Forestry Commission’s Woodland Area, Planting and Publicly Funded Restocking publication: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7aqknx
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted in public spaces in the last seven years.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Neither Defra nor the Forestry Commission records the planting data of projects that are not funded directly by either Defra or FC. Many local authorities fund their own tree planting projects; therefore, they record their own planting data. As the information requested is not collated centrally it could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on the total new planting in England (in hectares), including planting from all other recorded sources, are available from the Forestry Commission’s Woodland Area, Planting and Publicly Funded Restocking publication: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7aqknx
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps will he take to prevent the sale of ivory.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In the UK there are strong rules in place controlling the sale of ivory, backed up by robust enforcement from Border Force and the National Wildlife Crime Unit. Our measures already go further than the requirements of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and EU law; for example, the UK CITES Management Authority’s policy is not to issue certificates for the sale of raw African elephant ivory of any age. Any further action will be announced in the normal way.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 assess the merits of introducing a deposit return system for plastic bottles.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend, the Member for St Ives, Derek Thomas, on 22 December 2016, PQ 57651.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 make it her policy to offer alternative financial incentives to local authorities that plan to introduce charging for the use of refuse collection centres.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There is a long-established precedent of free access for local residents to deposit household waste and recycling at household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). This ensures local residents are able to deposit these materials safely and at minimal environmental impact.
Local authorities can charge for the deposit of ‘non household’ waste and can also charge users not resident within the local authority area. The detail of these charging arrangements is for local authorities to determine in consultation with local residents taking account of the framework set by legislation and potential for other environmental impacts.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 effect of charging at refuse collection centres on (a) fly-tipping within the local authority area containing such centres and (b) levels of footfall at such centres.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There is a long-established precedent of free access for local residents to deposit household waste and recycling at household waste recycling centres. Local authorities may charge for the deposit of ‘non household’ waste such as car tyres and/or for users not resident within the local authority area. Where charges are applied these should be determined in consultation with local residents, taking account of legislation and the potential for flytipping and other negative environmental impacts.
Defra publishes annual statistics summarising the number and type of incidents of illegally deposited waste, the cost of dealing with them and the actions taken against fly-tipping in England. Household waste, which includes ‘black bags’ and ‘other’, is the largest waste type contributing to all fly-tipping incidents. In total this accounted for 66% of all incidents in 2014-15. In 2014-15 local authorities spent £50m clearing and disposing of waste fly-tipped on public land.
The Department has not carried out a separate assessment of the effects of charging at refuse collection centres on flytipping within local authority areas or levels of footfall at such centres.