Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which ports with regular ferry services to the UK he plans to designate as EU Border Inspection Posts by 29 March 2019.
Answered by David Rutley
Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) are commercial ventures set up by ports and airports which are inspected and approved for operation by the relevant Competent Authority and the Commission. Any BIPs at ports with regular ferry services to the UK would be approved by the Competent Authority of that EU Member State, not the Secretary of State.
As explained in the Technical Notice on “Importing animals and animal products if there’s no Brexit deal”, consignments originating in the EU will not initially be required to enter the UK through a BIP. For this reason we are not anticipating a significant increase in demand for BIPs at UK ports receiving ferries coming from the EU and have not received any applications for approvals of new BIPs.
A full list of current BIP facilities across the EU can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/vet-border-control/bip-contacts_en
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has for the Joint Air Quality Unit to publish a report on steps local authorities have taken to implementing to tackle air pollution.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
On 5 October, the Government published a Supplement to the 2017 UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide emissions, along with 33 local feasibility studies developed by local authorities initially identified as having shorter term NO2 exceedances.
These set out the work carried out by local authorities to identify measures to bring forward compliance with legal NO2 limits, and the next steps the Government has directed them to take where they have identified measures.
28 local authorities were directed in 2017 to develop plans to tackle air pollution by the end of 2018 – the Government expects local authorities will make their plans public once they are completed and final and several local authorities have already conducted public consultations and engagement on their plans.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what quantitative assessments his Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the sectors for which his Department is responsible.
Answered by George Eustice
As part of our preparations to leave the EU, we are in the process of carrying out a programme of rigorous and extensive analytical work that will contribute to our exit negotiations, help to define our future partnership with the EU, and inform our understanding of how leaving the EU will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. Our analysis is constantly evolving based on our discussions with stakeholders and our negotiations with the EU.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
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 consult (a) Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and (b) other animal welfare charities before publishing the draft legislation to increase sentences for animal cruelty for wider consultation.
Answered by George Eustice
As announced on 30 September, a bill to increase the maximum penalties for animal cruelty will be available for comment around the turn of the year. It has not been decided what form of consultation will be undertaken.