Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on puppy smuggling and similar crimes of introducing visual checks on dogs and other animals entering the country via the Pet Travel Scheme.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All non-commercial cats, dogs and ferrets entering Great Britain on approved routes (every route other than Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies) under the pet travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.
To enter Great Britain pets must have been implanted with a microchip or have a legible tattoo imprinted prior to 3 July 2011. A pet's identity is checked by ensuring that the microchip or tattoo details correspond to the details in the pet's documentation. Carriers can refer suspected non-compliances to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). APHA staff are highly trained to deal with intercepted shipments.
APHA works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the pet travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and will progress as soon as parliamentary time allows. The Bill allows us to further protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of the Animals Abroad Bill; and what his Department's timeframe is for bringing forward further legislative proposals on animal welfare.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
In the last year we have already introduced our Animal Sentience and Kept Animals Bills to Parliament and published the Government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare. The Action Plan for Animal Welfare demonstrates this Government's commitment to a brighter future for animals both at home and abroad.
We are moving forward with our plans to deliver one of the toughest bans in the world on the import of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species. We are firmly committed to the ban and this will be brought forward as soon as Parliamentary time allows. We are also looking at further measures to protect animals abroad, including banning the import and export of detached fins, and taking action against low welfare animal experiences.
The Kept Animals Bill completed Commons Committee Stage in November. Since introduction, the Government has added a new pet abduction offence to the Bill and extended the primates measure to Wales. We have also consulted on the use of powers in the Bill to tackle puppy smuggling. The Government is committed to this Bill and it will progress in its current form as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of banning imports of fur in 2022 on animal welfare.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Fur farming has been banned in the UK for over 20 years. Now we have left the EU, the Government is able to explore potential further action in relation to animal fur.
The recent call for evidence published by Defra on the fur trade in Great Britain was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to better understand the fur sector in Great Britain and gather evidence from those with an interest in it.
We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. We are reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses setting out the results and key findings will be published soon.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to help ensure that all households across the UK have access to soft plastics recycling.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the 2021 consultation on Consistency in Household and Business recycling in England, we proposed that local authorities be required to collect recyclable plastic films from households by no later than the end of 2026/27. The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 take steps to ensure that no raw sewage is discharged into (a) the Thames, (b) English rivers and (c) the sea in 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has made improving water quality a priority, and has been clear that the current use of storm overflows is completely unacceptable. However, storm overflows are a historic infrastructure issue and stopping their usage today would lead to sewage backing up into homes and businesses during the next heavy rainfall event.
This Government is the first to take steps to tackle sewage overflows, but we know that this is extremely challenging and costly, as it will require significant infrastructure upgrades including separating pipes across the country. We will therefore shortly be publishing a Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan for consultation, to gather views from the public on our proposed approach and the trade-offs between ambition and pace of change, and disruption and costs to consumers.
The Government has a duty to produce this plan under the landmark Environment Act 2021 which introduces a raft of duties to reduce the adverse effects of storm overflows on the environment and public health, including a report setting out the actions that would be needed to completely eliminate discharges from storm overflows in England. We will outline further detail on this shortly.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding access to countryside provisions in the Agriculture Act 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the ambition to connect more people from all backgrounds with the natural environment for their health and well-being, and the commitment to supporting people to access and enjoy outdoor spaces. The priority is for this to happen in a way that is safe for people and animals, and in line with published regulations and guidance.
Support for increasing access into the countryside will be made through existing schemes and support mechanisms already in place.
Access is currently provided for under the Countryside Stewardship scheme’s Higher Tier and Mid Tier. The scheme funds land managers for both the instalment of capital items to promote access, such as gates and stiles, as well as providing educational visits which offer school pupils and care farming clients the opportunity to visit farms to learn, understand and engage with farming and the environment. This year we have introduced a new woodland supplement, Access for people, which aims to create alternative outdoor activities, encourage engagement with nature and create further educational opportunities.
We are still considering our approach to support for increasing and maintaining access to the countryside in our future schemes including our environmental land management schemes.
To boost investment in the meantime, we have launched a new Farming in Protected Landscapes programme in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – this includes opportunities for farmers and land managers to provide new or easier access, links to the Public Rights of Way network, and interpretation of farming, nature and heritage.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to place Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 on Global Food Loss and Waste into law to help the UK tackle food waste.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 January 2022 to the hon. Member for Putney, PQ UIN 97159.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to bring forward a ban on trail hunting on Government land.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. The Government will not amend the Hunting Act 2004.
Issuing a licence or giving permission for trail hunting is an operational matter for the landowner and those organisations with a land lease or agreement in place for Government land.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 to update breed-specific legislation and the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to help prevent unnecessary suffering in dogs.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The primary purpose of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is public protection. The Government must balance the views of those who want to repeal or amend the breed specific legislation relating to the Pit Bull terrier, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro and the Japanese Tosa with that responsibility.
Historically, pit bull types are powerful dogs which have been traditionally bred in the UK for dog fighting. Data gathered from 2005 onwards on fatal dog attacks show that pit bulls were involved in around one in six tragic incidents, despite the prohibitions that we have in place that have significantly limited the numbers of pit bulls in the UK.
The Government considers that a lifting of the restrictions on these types of dogs would more likely result in an increase in dog attacks, rather than contributing to any reduction in such incidents. This position is supported by the police.
Despite the general prohibitions on these types of dog, individual prohibited dogs can be kept by their owners if a court considers certain safety criteria to be met.
The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 also gives enforcement bodies the power to take action in cases where a dog is considered to be dangerously out of control and has attacked another dog.
In December 2021, Defra published research in collaboration with Middlesex University to look at responsible ownership across all breeds of dog. The report will provide the basis for the consideration of reform in this area and the Government is already working with the police, local authorities, and stakeholders to consider the recommendations further.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward a standalone clean air Bill.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We know that air pollution is the greatest environmental hazard to health, and we have taken significant action to clean up our air. Emissions of nitrogen oxides are now at their lowest levels since records began. But there is more to do. The landmark Environment Act includes a clear duty to set new targets for air quality.
The Environment Act ensures local authorities have strengthened powers to tackle air pollution and more. This builds on our Clean Air Strategy.