Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero during Consideration of Lords message on the Energy Bill [Lords] on 18 October 2023, Official Report, column 352, when she plans to publish the consultation on barriers to developing community energy projects.

Answered by Graham Stuart

We have been codesigning the consultation on the barriers to community energy schemes with the Community Energy Contact Group. We intend to publish the consultation as soon as possible.

Found: Sheryll Murray MP (Conservative, South East Cornwall ) Cat Smith MP (Labour, Lancaster and Fleetwood) Selaine

Found: David Linden MP (Scottish National Party, Glasgow East ) Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley ) Selaine

Found: David Linden MP (Scottish National Party, Glasgow East )Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley ) Selaine

Found: Q76 Selaine Saxby: Thank you.

Found: Q274 Selaine Saxby: Thank you and good morning.

Found: David Linden MP (Scottish National Party, Glasgow East )Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley ) Selaine

Found: David Linden MP (Scottish National Party, Glasgow East ) Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley ) Selaine

Found: Sheryll Murray MP (Conservative, South East Cornwall ) Cat Smith MP (Labour, Lancaster and Fleetwood) Selaine

Found: David Linden MP (Scottish National Party, Glasgow East )Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley ) Selaine

Found: David Linden MP (Scottish National Party, Glasgow East ) Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley ) Selaine

Found: Q98 Selaine Saxby: Anthony, you have already touched on this, but can you explain why you focused on

Found: Q20 Selaine Saxby: I have a follow-up question.

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 increasing sanctions for cases of puppy smuggling.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on proposed restrictions, including enforcement measures, to the commercial import and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. We are carefully reviewing the feedback gathered from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published soon.

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill will contain powers that will enable future regulations, including penalties and offences, for non-compliant commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom.

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 impact of provisions in the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill on the work of animal rescue charities.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill completed second reading in the House of Commons on 15 March 2024.

In August 2021 we launched a consultation on the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. It was a wide-ranging consultation with excellent engagement with key stakeholders including animal rescue charities. We are carefully reviewing the feedback from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and the consultation response will be published soon.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to introduce a complete ban on the commercial movement of pregnant dogs, and (2) to increase the age at which puppies can be imported to six months.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill contains powers that will enable future regulations for commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom, including prohibiting the import of heavily pregnant dogs over 42 days gestation and puppies under six months old.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a complete ban on the (1) importation, and (2) sale, of dogs which have had (a) their ears cropped, or (b) their tails docked, for cosmetic reasons.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is already an offence in England and Wales to carry out a non-exempted mutilation, including the cropping of a dog’s ears or the docking of their tails. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 creates tougher penalties for anyone convicted of such an offence face, either being sent to prison for up to five years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill contains powers that will enable future regulations for commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom including prohibiting the import of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails. This will prevent the import of non-exempted mutilated dogs for onward sale in the United Kingdom.

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 impact of importing pregnant dogs on the welfare of those dogs; and whether he has received representations from animal welfare organisations on this matter.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on proposed restrictions to the commercial import and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain including restricting the import of heavily pregnant dogs. It was a wide-ranging consultation with excellent engagement with key stakeholders including animal welfare organisations. We are carefully reviewing the feedback gathered from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published soon. We continue to engage with stakeholders on this issue.

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill will contain powers that will enable future regulations for commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom including prohibiting the import of heavily pregnant dogs over 42 days gestation.

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 prohibiting the (a) importation and (b) sale of dogs with (i) cropped ears and (ii) docked tails.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is already an offence in England and Wales to carry out a non-exempted mutilation, including the cropping of a dog’s ears or the docking of their tails. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 creates tougher penalties for anyone convicted of such an offence face, either being sent to prison for up to five years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.

In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on proposed restrictions to the commercial import and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain including restricting 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 soon.

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill will contain powers that will enable future regulations for commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom including prohibiting the import of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails.

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 make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the age at which puppies can be imported to six months and (b) reintroducing rabies blood tests for imported puppies.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill will contain powers that will enable future regulations for commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom including prohibiting the import of puppies under six months old.

There are already strict legal controls on the entry of animals into Great Britain aimed at preventing the introduction of rabies. All dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain must be vaccinated against rabies. We are not currently proposing any changes to the animal health requirements for dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain. The Government monitors disease risk carefully. If the disease risk changes, or an immediate public health risk is identified, appropriate action will be taken.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the commercial movement of pregnant dogs into Great Britain; and whether he plans to take legislative steps to curb this practice.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill will contain powers that will enable future regulations for commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom including prohibiting the import of heavily pregnant dogs over 42 days gestation.

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 prevent the illegal smuggling of cats and kittens into the UK.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals.

We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. The Animal and Plant Health Agency works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.

We are aware that Selaine Saxby MP has introduced a Private Members’ Bill on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets. In accordance with Parliamentary convention, the Government will set out its formal position on this Bill when it receives its Second Reading.

Found: Saxby (Con).

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: Saxby Simon Jupp Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown [R] Craig Mackinlay Mr David Jones Sir Graham

Found: _NC11 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: Saxby Simon Jupp Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown [R] Craig Mackinlay Mr David Jones Sir Graham

Found: _NC11 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: Vickers John Redwood Royston Smith Sir Robert Syms [R] Philip Davies [R] Mr Philip Hollobone Selaine

Found: _NC11 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC11 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: Saxby Simon Jupp Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown [R] Craig Mackinlay Mr David Jones Sir Graham

Found: the Bill, prepared by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with the consent of Selaine

Found: _NC11 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: Saxby Simon Jupp Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown [R] Craig Mackinlay Mr David Jones Sir Graham

Found: prepared by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (“the Department”) with the consent of Selaine

Found: Bill, prepared by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with the consent of Selaine

Found: Saxby (Con).

Found: by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (“the Department”) with the consent of Selaine

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: Saxby Will Quince Suella Braverman Sir Peter Bottomley Andrew Lewer Sally-Ann Hart Bob Blackman

Found: under the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill – a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Selaine