Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review the effectiveness and adequacy of current legislation on the protection and conservation of seals.
Answered by George Eustice
Seal conservation is a devolved issue so I can only respond with respect to England. Approximately 85% of the UK seal population is in Scotland and the Scottish government have their own legislation concerning the protection of seals.
Seals in England are primarily protected by the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. Under this Act, it is an offence to take or kill common and grey seals out of season or to use certain methods to kill or take, unless permitted to do so by a licence issued under the Act.
No licences have been issued for the culling of seals in England in the last five years.
The Act also allows the Secretary of State to provide year round protection in any specified area. Such a ‘Conservation Order’ currently protects grey and common seals on the east coast of England. Given the distribution of seal populations in England, this Order has the net effect of providing year round protection for almost all common seals and the majority of grey seals in England.
The Law Commission has carried out a review of wildlife law and will publish its final report this summer.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 have been convicted of animal abuse since 2005.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of offences related to animal abuse, in England and Wales, from 2005 to 2013 can be seen in the table attached.
Criminal court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to encourage more children to use national parks.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
National parks have a statutory purpose to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of their special qualities by the public. Defra funds national park authorities to deliver their purposes. Each park provides a wealth of resources specifically to help children, young people and their carers make the most of the experience, from on-line information to practical activities. For example, the Ranger Ralph Club on Dartmoor runs up to 12 outdoor events a year for 5-12 year olds and the North York Moors’ education service provides curriculum-linked activities for all key stages.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what targets the National Wildlife Crime Unit has been set for dealing with wildlife cybercrime.
Answered by George Eustice
The National Wildlife Crime Unit does not set specific targets but focuses on information and intelligence on wildlife crime on the internet as part of its work to tackle the six UK wildlife crime priorities.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of milk sold in Britain comes from intensively farmed cows.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not collect information on systems of milk production. It is difficult to define intensity in relation to dairy farms, as this can be measured in many different ways and levels of intensity change gradually rather than at specific predetermined points.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to ensure that all milk labelling clearly states the farming methods used in production of that milk.
Answered by George Eustice
Food labelling rules are set at EU level and require that food information must not mislead. There are currently no milk labelling rules or criteria that define the method of farming.
The Commission is due to publish a report into the feasibility of extending mandatory country of origin labelling to milk and milk products.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from nature bodies about the introduction of a Nature and Well-Being Bill.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra receives representations from organisations on a wide range of environmental issues. These have included proposals for a Nature and Wellbeing Bill. The Government has set out its legislative programme for the remainder of this Parliament, which does not include proposals for such a Bill.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to publish figures for pre-slaughter mortality of animals in the food industry.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not hold this information centrally. Mortality data is recorded at an individual farm level. The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 requires all farmed animals to be inspected at least once a day. The number of mortalities found at each inspection has to be recorded and that information must be made available to an inspector on request.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward proposals to amend the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to enable local authorities to take action on nuisance odours in residential properties alongside industrial, trade or business premises.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Section 79(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) already makes provision for local authorities to take action on fumes and gases emitted from residential premises that are prejudicial to health or a nuisance. This would include fumes and gases that are also odorous. Putrefying accumulations or deposits that are prejudicial to health or a nuisance can also be dealt with under section 79(1)(e) of the EPA. Odours from residential properties that result from reasonable, everyday activity, such as cooking, would not be considered a statutory nuisance.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under what criteria products are granted exemption from the prohibition on smoky fuels in a controlled area.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Under Section 21 of the Clean Air Act 1993, the Secretary of State has the power to exempt fireplaces, such as stoves or solid fuel boilers, by order, for use in smoke control areas if they meet certain defined criteria. To obtain exemption, products must have passed a series of tests that demonstrate that they are capable of operating without producing smoke, or a substantial quantity of smoke. These tests assess whether products can comply with emission limits which are based on thresholds in British Standard BS PD 6434:1969 or in the Clean Air Act (Emission of Grit and Dust from Furnaces) Regulations (SI 1971/162), depending on the appliance size.