Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of a ban on trail hunting on the economy in rural communities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department intends to launch a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a ban on trail hunting. The responses to that consultation will be used to inform our assessment of the potential impact of a ban on trail hunting on the economy in rural communities.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to consult (a) rural stakeholders and (b) trail hunting organisations prior to the introduction of legislative proposals to ban trail hunting.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We intend to launch a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a ban on trail hunting. We will welcome input from all quarters, including from rural stakeholders and trail hunting organisations.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of jobs in rural areas that will be affected by a ban on trail hunting.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department intends to launch a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a ban on trail hunting. The responses to that consultation will be used to inform our assessment of the potential impact of a ban on trail hunting on the economy in rural communities.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 cultural and social contribution of poultry shows to rural communities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Poultry shows play an important role in the cultural and social life of rural communities. Gatherings of birds, such as poultry shows, are currently individually risk assessed to reduce the risk of further outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. Risk is reviewed regularly to inform the need for such measures.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the potential economic impact of prohibiting poultry shows on (a) rural economies, (b) agricultural shows, (c) local businesses and (d) hobbyist breeders.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings (such as shows) of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
Any outbreak of notifiable avian disease has a significant impact on the UK poultry industry, through the trade and impacts on the bird keeper. Together, the Government and bird keepers must do everything we can to keep this disease out of kept bird flocks as there are limited effective actions that can be taken to prevent incursions of the disease through migratory wild birds or transmission between wild bird species.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 potential implications for her policies of other countries permitting poultry shows under biosecure conditions.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
Gatherings risk assessments focus on the risk as it relates to birds within Great Britain at the time of assessment. The policies and risk management decisions of other countries do not directly impact our assessment of risk. Context is important as there are differences in industry structure between Great British poultry and poultry in other countries; as well as differences in biosecurity requirements, disease prevalence, migratory pathways and disease control measures.
Each competent authority will need to assess the risk to animal health in their own administrations based on local risk assessments.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 potential implications for her policies of the UK Health Security Agency’s conclusion that the risk to the general public from avian influenza remains very low when determining policy on poultry shows.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. These risk assessments focus on the risk as it relates to birds.
Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 potential impact of reductions in poultry biodiversity on the food chain.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a highly resilient poultry meat supply chain which has coped well in responding to the unprecedented challenges it has faced in the recent years.
Conservation of animal genetic resources including poultry breeds contributes to biodiversity. These resources provide genetic traits which can contribute to a sustainable increase in food productivity and help the agriculture sector adapt to climate change.
Defra receives independent expert advice from the UK Genetics for Livestock and Equines Committee which is used to inform approaches to conservation of native breeds including poultry.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 potential impact of the ban on poultry shows on the conservation of rare and traditional poultry breeds.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
A licence for a poultry gathering, such as a show, may be granted if the gathering and the transport of birds to and from it would not significantly increase the risk of the spread of bird flu. For each application to hold a gathering of poultry, such as a small poultry show, an individual risk assessment will be completed, and mitigating conditions will be set out in the licence.
Defra, through the annual UK Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) breed inventory, updates the Breeds at Risk (BAR) list which contains native breeds that are considered to be at particular risk, for example in the event of an outbreak of exotic animal disease. The BAR list provides a potential derogation from culling during an outbreak, which is dependent on veterinary risk assessment.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s Epidemiology Report: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 outbreaks in Great Britain, October 2022 to March 2023, published on 30 March 2023, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ending the blanket ban on poultry shows in England and Wales.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings (such as shows) of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
A licence for a poultry gathering, such as a show, may be granted if the gathering and the transport of birds to and from it would not significantly increase the risk of the spread of bird flu. For each application for a licence to hold a gathering of poultry, an individual risk assessment will be completed, and mitigating conditions will be set out in the licence.