Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to protect and preserve landscapes with a distinct literary heritage and value.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Many of our most precious literary landscapes are protected in law as National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). In England, there are 10 National Parks and 34 AONBs. Together, they cover nearly 25% of land in England. These places are designated in statute for their natural beauty which provided the inspiration and the settings for some of our greatest works of literature. There are also some good examples of literary considerations in landscape character assessments, including Natural England’s National Character Areas, which reference these associations across England’s landscapes.
These designated landscapes are all managed to conserve and enhance their important cultural associations, including relevant literature and the sites which inspired it, as key components of the natural beauty of the area. For instance, the Lake District National Park celebrates its close links to and the inspiration it provided for the great British Romantic Movement, including authors such as Wordsworth and the other Lakes Poets, as well as the much loved children’s authors Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome (Swallows and Amazons). Exmoor National Park actively promotes its links with Robert Blackmore’s ‘Lorna Doone’. The Dorset, Blackdown Hills and Cranbourne Chase AONBs all rightly celebrate their associations with Thomas Hardy and help conserve and enhance the settings for his novels.
Literary associations are also celebrated and conserved in some of the England’s World Heritage sites. The Lake District World Heritage Site was designated in part due to the fact that it is “A landscape which has inspired artistic and literary movements and generated ideas about landscapes that have had a global influence and left its physical mark” and the Management Plan for this site emphasises the importance of its literary associations.
In addition, nearly 400,000 heritage assets – many of them located within the boundaries of National Parks and AONBs – benefit from statutory protection in their own right as Listed Buildings or Scheduled Monuments. Often such assets have strong literary associations – for instance, Stonehenge (protected as a Scheduled Monument) famously provided the setting for the tragic climax of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, while Max Gate (protected as a Listed Building) survives as the house Hardy designed and had built in Dorchester, and in which he wrote this and several of his other classics. These are but two of several such examples.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to publish feedback on its consultation on changes to rules for the import of dogs.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are carefully reviewing the feedback gathered from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published in due course.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 tackle trends in the level of cropping of dogs’ ears.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The cropping of a dog’s ears is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Now that the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 has come into force, anyone convicted of such an offence, faces being sent to prison for up to five years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill includes powers to introduce restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on how these powers should be used, including proposals to ban the import of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails.
We are carefully reviewing the feedback gathered from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published in due course.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 help tackle the cropping of dogs’ ears.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The cropping of a dog’s ears is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Now that the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 has come into force, anyone convicted of such an offence, faces being sent to prison for up to five years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill includes powers to introduce restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on how these powers should be used, including proposals to ban the import of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails.
We are carefully reviewing the feedback gathered from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published in due course.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of banning cages for laying hens.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 March 2023 to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn, PQ UIN 173051.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the Hunting Act 2004 to strengthen measures against fox hunting.
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. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.
The Government has made it clear that the Hunting Act will not be amended – that is a manifesto commitment.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to keep fur trade bans in the context of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is in the process of analysing all retained EU law. This analysis will enable us to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law and what should be repealed or amended. Current government policy is to retain existing fur measures.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban wet wipes containing plastic.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government is carefully considering the impact of wet wipes containing plastic and more information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 plans to launch a consultation on the use of cages in farming systems.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to exploring the use of cages. However, no formal timelines for consultations have been confirmed as yet.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of banning farrowing crates for pigs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to exploring the use of cages. However, no formal timelines for consultations have been confirmed as yet.