Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sheep have been killed by domestic dogs on farmland in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley
There is a range of measures available to the police and local authorities to prevent or respond to dog attacks on livestock. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes it an offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control and this includes in and around livestock. In addition, the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 makes it an offence to allow a dog to worry livestock. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes specific powers for police and local authorities to take action before a dog becomes dangerously out of control by issuing a warning notice for low level dog related nuisance. The table below provides the number of people prosecuted under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 for allowing dogs to worry all types of livestock, including sheep, in the last five years for which figures are available. Prosecutions have been made under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 but data is not centrally held on the circumstances of how the dog was dangerously out of control.
Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Grand Total |
Prosecuted | 50 | 51 | 47 | 47 | 37 | 232 |
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures he is considering to protect livestock from dogs that are being exercised in the countryside on farmland.
Answered by David Rutley
There is a range of measures available to the police and local authorities to prevent or respond to dog attacks on livestock. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes it an offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control and this includes in and around livestock. In addition, the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 makes it an offence to allow a dog to worry livestock. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes specific powers for police and local authorities to take action before a dog becomes dangerously out of control by issuing a warning notice for low level dog related nuisance. The table below provides the number of people prosecuted under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 for allowing dogs to worry all types of livestock, including sheep, in the last five years for which figures are available. Prosecutions have been made under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 but data is not centrally held on the circumstances of how the dog was dangerously out of control.
Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Grand Total |
Prosecuted | 50 | 51 | 47 | 47 | 37 | 232 |
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to remove the European white-fronted goose from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government intends to prohibit the hunting of Greenland white fronted goose by removing the species from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. I anticipate that the legislation will be laid this autumn.
There are no plans to remove the European white-fronted goose from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department will publish its response to the consultation on removing the Greenland White-fronted goose from schedule 2 of the Wildlife Act 1981.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government intends to prohibit the hunting of Greenland white fronted goose by removing the species from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. I anticipate that the legislation will be laid this autumn.
There are no plans to remove the European white-fronted goose from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce a short-term visa scheme for non-EEA nationals to enter the UK fishing industry following the introduction of a similar visa scheme for non-EEA national farm workers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government will set its proposals for the future immigration system in due course.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of recreational sea angling to the Sussex economy.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra has not estimated the value of recreational sea angling to the Sussex economy.
However, Defra’s ‘Sea Angling 2012’ research found that sea anglers resident in England spent £1.23 billion on the sport (it is not possible to provide robust figures by county).
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what limits his Department recommends for proximity to shore of near-shore pair trawlers.
Answered by George Eustice
Operational advice issued regarding the proximity of fishing activity, including pair-trawling, is often judged on a case by case basis and is dependent on local fishing patterns and behaviours. In addition to this there are also specific restrictions in place which limit pair-trawling in English waters. For instance, there is a prohibition on certain types of pair-trawling within 12 nautical miles of the South West of England, and the Eastern IFCA operates a byelaw that prohibits trawling from 0-3 nautical miles throughout most of the district.