Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of exempting developments granted planning permission through development orders on the effectiveness of the Government’s policy that new developments should enhance biodiversity and create new green spaces for local communities to enjoy.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As stated in the Government response to the net gain consultation, the Government will not introduce broad exemptions from delivering biodiversity net gain, beyond those exemptions already proposed for permitted development and householder applications such as extensions. The Government will instead introduce narrow exemptions for the most constrained types of development.
Permitted development rights play a vital role in freeing up local planning authorities to deal with planning applications that matter to local communities and have a wider social, economic and environmental impact. Whilst the biodiversity net gain provisions are not applicable to development undertaken through rights granted under the General Permitted Development Order, they are applicable to development permitted by local development orders and neighbourhood development orders.
The extent to which any exemption reduces the positive outcomes of this policy for wildlife and communities will remain an important consideration during the development of secondary legislation. Any further details on suggested exemptions will be subject to further engagement and consultation with stakeholders before implementation.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Department on the survey of wholesalers affected by the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK food sector has adapted quickly to unprecedented challenges during the Covid-19 outbreak to ensure people have the food and products they need. With counterparts across Whitehall, and through ongoing engagement with industry, we are closely monitoring the potential impacts of Covid-19 on the food and drink wholesale sector. This includes regular meetings with food and drink wholesalers and their representative bodies.
To help industry, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out a package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support public services, people and businesses through this period of disruption caused by Covid-19. The measures available to food and drink wholesale businesses depend on their size, and includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for furloughing of staff; the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan; the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan; the Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility; a Statutory sick pay relief package for SMEs with fewer than 250 employees; Value Added Tax (VAT) deferral to the end of June; the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme; Eviction protection for commercial tenants; a £10,000 cash grant for all business in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief and Rural Rates Relief; and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
We remain committed to working in partnership with industry to respond to these challenges as they evolve and to assess whether current support mechanisms continue to be sufficient and effective.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
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 number of district councils in Kent that have their own animal welfare inspectors.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, local authorities in England are required to appoint one or more suitably qualified inspectors to inspect premises requiring licensing under the regulations, including those relating to dog breeding, pet selling, hiring out horses, animal exhibits and animal boarding. Local authorities appoint such inspectors using powers under section 51 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Local authority animal welfare inspectors also carry out inspections in relation to welfare in transport, on-farm welfare and, particularly in Kent, helping to tackle illegal imports of dogs. It is for local authorities, such as those within Kent, to determine how to prioritise their resources as well as the number of animal inspectors they appoint under the Animal Welfare Act. We do not hold data centrally on the number of inspectors appointed under the Act.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
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 require all local authorities in England to have their own animal welfare inspector.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, local authorities in England are required to appoint one or more suitably qualified inspectors to inspect premises requiring licensing under the regulations, including those relating to dog breeding, pet selling, hiring out horses, animal exhibits and animal boarding. Local authorities appoint such inspectors using powers under section 51 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Local authority animal welfare inspectors also carry out inspections in relation to welfare in transport, on-farm welfare and, particularly in Kent, helping to tackle illegal imports of dogs. It is for local authorities, such as those within Kent, to determine how to prioritise their resources as well as the number of animal inspectors they appoint under the Animal Welfare Act. We do not hold data centrally on the number of inspectors appointed under the Act.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
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 hold discussions with representatives of the British tourism industry on the advertisement of attractions involving Asian elephants.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra officials continue to be in regular contact with representatives from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) on the issue of the welfare of elephants in tourist attractions overseas. I was pleased that ABTA recently updated its members’ animal welfare guidelines to include specific advice about this issue.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has held with representatives of tour operators on the advertising of holiday attractions involving Asian elephants.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra officials continue to be in regular contact with representatives from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) on the issue of the welfare of elephants in tourist attractions overseas. I was pleased that ABTA recently updated its members’ animal welfare guidelines to include specific advice about this issue.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
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 number of animals killed by air gun in England since 2015.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Department does not hold information on the number of animals killed by this method.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of hedgehogs in (a) Kent, (b) the South East and (c) the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra has not made an estimate of hedgehog numbers in the Kent and the South East regions specifically. However, the latest Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals, commissioned by Natural England, estimated that there are around 520,000 in Great Britain.
Defra continues to commend work, including research, by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, such as their Conservation Strategy for Hedgehogs. Under our 25 Year Environment Plan, we are committed to creating or restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat to provide benefits for species such as the hedgehog. Agri-environment schemes such as Countryside Stewardship provide funding to restore, extend and link important habitats and boost food resources for our native species.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the animal welfare guidelines for tour operators published by ABTA in December 2019.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
British Travel Agents (ABTA) for tour operators. I particularly welcome the guide on elephant experiences which sets out clearly what practices are acceptable and what are unacceptable. Whilst Defra has not assessed their effectiveness specifically, I am encouraged that the British travel industry recognise the importance of protecting animal welfare and of providing advice to travel providers for their suppliers and destination tourist boards.
Tourists are becoming more aware of the impact tourism can have on both the environment and on animal welfare and can expect to question whether a particular animal-related experience is both animal welfare friendly and sustainable.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the criteria is for live animal exports for slaughter to be classified as long distance.
Answered by George Eustice
We have a manifesto commitment to end excessively long journeys for live animals going for slaughter and fattening once we leave the EU. We will shortly consult on how we deliver on that commitment and look forward to inviting views on the criteria that will be used to define an excessively long journey.