Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to enforce humane standards in slaughterhouses; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
We have in place legislation which sets down strict animal welfare rules within our slaughterhouses. Enforcement of this legislation is the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency; enforcement is carried out by Official Veterinarians in every approved slaughterhouse. We are continuing to work closely with the Food Standards Agency to see how we can further improve the welfare standards in slaughterhouses.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were prosecuted under the Breeding and Sale of Dogs Acts in 2013; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
There were no prosecutions under the Breeding and Sale of Dogs Acts in 2013.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions relating to dogs there were for each offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Centrally held records of prosecutions under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 do not record the species of animal involved.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average cost is for a dog breeder to (a) obtain a licence for the first time and (b) renew an existing licence; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government does not hold records of the average cost of a dog breeder’s licence. However, the fee should represent the cost of administering the licence.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people with a disability work in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
As at 30 November 2014, 151 staff in core Defra had declared that they were disabled. This represents 12% of staff who declared their disability status.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people working in her Department are over 65 years old; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
As at 30 November 2014, 27 staff in core Defra were over 65 years of age. This represents 1.2% of the workforce.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to insulate her Departmental estate in order to improve energy efficiency; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Insulation surveys were carried out across all core Defra’s buildings in 2011 and window frame draught proofing installed at both Nobel House, London and Kings Pool, York. More recently, in 2013, all ceiling void and wall insulation was replaced throughout Nobel House.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 capacity of her Department's buildings for the micro-generation of renewable energy; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
A key aspect of core Defra’s construction and major refurbishment projects is consideration and incorporation of renewable energy technologies where viable. The Department’s Alnwick office construction in 2009 used a wind turbine, solar photovolataic panels and a biomass boiler. A major refurbishment of the York office (2008) included solar thermal panels.
The Department’s London headquarters building, Nobel House, was refurbished in 2012. The building had previously been assessed, in 2010, for renewable energy technologies but was not considered suitable due to the building’s position, aspect and listed status.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce water (a) usage and (b) bills in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Core Defra has reduced water consumption and costs through investment in water saving measures such as flow restrictors, rainwater harvesting, low flush toilet cisterns and waterless urinals. Smart metering also enables Core Defra to monitor and target excessive consumption, identify leaks and ensure building systems are operating to optimum efficiency.
Rationalisation of the estate has also delivered significant savings. For example, since April 2012 core Defra has reduced its London estate from four to two properties, making more efficient use of space and reducing water consumption as part of the overall strategy.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 ensure its services are available online; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra is developing two of the twenty five Digital Exemplar programmes across Government. These are:
· The Common Agricultural Policy Delivery programme - a new digital service to implement the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in England.
· The Waste Carrier Registrations programme to replace the previous paper based system, making it quicker and easier for waste carrier businesses to register online. This is being delivered in two phases, with the first phase available to customers now. The proportion of registrations made using the digital service since December 2013 presently stands at 97.3%.
Many Defra services are already online, including Rod Licence Applications, the Cattle Tracing System, Animal Disease Alert Notifications and Farm Surveys. Defra is building up its Digital capability to ensure we can deliver more services on-line.