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Written Question
Dangerous Dogs
Monday 4th December 2023

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that other dog breeds are not (a) included in the definition of XL bully dogs and (b) subject to the restrictions being placed on XL bully dogs.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra convened a group of experts and other stakeholders to define the physical characteristics of the XL Bully breed type. The definition and guidance has been published on Gov.uk to help owners and enforcement officers understand whether a dog should be defined as an XL Bully. Other established breeds of dog may meet some of the characteristics of the XL Bully breed type but are not within the scope of the ban.


Written Question
Fish Farming: Animal Welfare
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

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 adopt the recommendations made by the Animal Welfare Committee in its updated opinion on farmed fish welfare.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Animal Welfare Committee has updated its 2014 Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and we are studying the recommendations carefully to determine next steps.


Written Question
Inland Waterways: Safety
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

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 an assessment of the potential merits of installing more throw lines near waterways.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency encourages safe and responsible recreation on inland and coastal water and is responsible for safety on waterside assets it owns, operates or occupies (such as locks, weirs and bridges). The Environment Agency is required to assess and manage the risks to the public at these assets under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It undertakes a comprehensive programme of public safety risk assessments of those assets and regularly inspects them to ensure that the provided risk control measures are well maintained. It has published advice on how to stay safe while visiting waterways: www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-safe-around-water(opens in a new tab) and is also a member of the National Water Safety Forum. In most cases joined-up education and messaging on water safety is necessary.

The process of regular public safety risk assessments identifies hazards associated with each asset, along with safety control measures to reduce the likelihood of anyone coming to harm. Typical control measures include barriers, signage, booms and rescue equipment, such as throwlines. The provision and decision-making process of throwlines versus other rescue equipment is also assessed in line with the location, effective deployment and recovery location. The Environment Agency’s representative on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Water Safety group is contributing to the development of a decision tree for Public Rescue Equipment which will continually improve the process. A useful guide can be found here: https://www.rospa.com/leisure-water-safety/water/research/inland.

We would anticipate that any professional undertaking with riparian responsibilities would undertake a similar risk assessment programme. The Environment Agency does not have a responsibility for setting any water safety policy, except in as much as it applies to its management of its own assets.

Employers whose work activity takes place close to open water are required under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to take steps to prevent employees and other people from coming to harm due to their work activities. For example, a perimeter wall or fence around an irrigation reservoir or slurry pit will help to control risks. Where open access to water is encouraged for leisure purposes controls might, depending on the circumstances, include the provision of throwlines or other rescue devices, as part of a range of measures. Much of the open water throughout Great Britain while often used for recreational purposes, is not associated with ongoing work activity, meaning the Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 does not apply.


Written Question
Flood Control: Bolton South East
Monday 5th June 2023

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

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 allocated funding to flood defences on Riverside Drive in Bolton South East constituency.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The River Irwell at Kearsley Flood Risk Management Scheme remains a priority project for the Environment Agency and its partners, given the devastating floods which affected the lives of residents in 2015 and 2020. The Environment Agency is working hard with consultants and contractors to identify a viable engineering option to reduce the risk of flooding in Kearsley.

£2.3 million in contributions have been identified. The breakdown of funding to date is a mix of Defra Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid (GiA), £750,000 Local Levy, £350,000 from the Department for Education and £1.2 million in Defra Other Government Departments GiA funding. However, full costs and funding cannot be confirmed until the preferred option is understood and costed. Discussions with the local authority, Bolton Council, regarding support for the project are ongoing.

The Environment Agency will continue to explore other potential sources of partnership funding.


Written Question
Farmers: Bolton South East
Monday 17th April 2023

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support her Department provides to farmers in Bolton South East constituency.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We recognise that global factors outside the Government’s control are increasing farmer’s input costs, particularly fertiliser, feed, fuel and energy, and that increased input costs can be challenging to cashflow.

To support farmers in England, the Government decided that the 2022 Basic Payment Scheme payment will be made in two instalments each year for the remainder of the agricultural transition period, to help farmers with their cashflow. We are also increasing revenue payment rates for the Countryside Stewardship scheme by ca. 30% to reflect the change in costs since 2013.

To further help with high input costs, Government has removed the 25% tariff on maize imports from the USA to help with animal feed costs. We have also introduced measures to help with the impact of global impacts on fertiliser supply chains. These include a fertiliser industry roundtable, delayed changes to the use of urea fertiliser, encouraging use of organic fertiliser and new technologies.

We have supported farmers through the worst global outbreak of Avian Flu in many years through an improved the Avian Flu compensation scheme for farmers and eased marketing rules to give certainty over business planning.

Government announced 45,000 visas for seasonal workers for the horticulture sector to ensure they have the labour they need, up 15,000 from start of 2022.

Other support includes changes to guidance on farmers using manures, increased grants for farmers and growers, boosting research and development, and supporting farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil through the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

We have committed to spend around £600 million on grants and other support for farmers to invest in productivity, animal health and welfare, innovation over three years and paid out over £30 million so far in grants for technology and equipment, having increased the original budget from £17 million and committed £90 million to our Innovation Programme.


Written Question
Floods: Bolton South East
Thursday 13th October 2022

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

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 make an urgent assessment on the repeated flooding to Riverside Drive, in Bolton South East constituency.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The River Irwell at Kearsley Flood Risk Management Scheme, which covers the communities of Prestolee and Stoneclough in Bolton, remains a priority project for the Environment Agency (EA) and its partners given the devastating floods which affected the lives of residents in December 2015 and February 2020. The EA has previously detailed (under PQ23256) a number of significant engineering challenges which have been revealed following ground investigation studies. The project team continue to work through these challenges with the EA’s consultants and contractors, in order to define a preferred option. The findings will have an impact on cost, construction method, and disturbance to residents during construction. In response to this, the project team continue to carefully weigh up, through analysis and design workshops with consultants and partners, the most effective method of reducing flood risk within the area. The project team will meet the Riverside Drive Flood Action Group in November to be available for questions and answers, and will ensure that Yasmin Qureshi MP is offered a pre-briefing.


Written Question
Dangerous Dogs
Thursday 29th September 2022

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of dog attacks.

Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We recognise that dog attacks can have horrific consequences, and we take this issue very seriously.

In December 2021, Defra published research in collaboration with Middlesex University investigating measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog.

The research considers the effectiveness of current dog control measures and makes several recommendations. These relate to consistency in enforcement practice and greater use of preventative enforcement models, improved knowledge and awareness of appropriate behaviour around dogs, strengthened accreditation of dog trainers, and improved data recording and collection.

In response to this research, Defra has established a Responsible Dog Ownership working group involving police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations. This is actively developing reforms in relation to each of the four main strands of the Middlesex report. Conclusions and policy reform recommendations are expected next year. These should address all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership effectively, from prevention to robust, consistent enforcement, focussing on owners as well as on their dogs.


This summer Defra has also worked with stakeholders to launch a dog safety communications campaign to promote safe interactions between children and dogs. As part of this we have supported the Canine and Feline Sector Group to disseminate their Dog Safety Code, which incorporates key advice and resources to equip parents and children with the knowledge they need to enjoy spending time with dogs safely.


Written Question
Flood Control: Bolton South East
Wednesday 29th June 2022

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress has been made on the Riverside Drive project in Bolton South East constituency.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) and its consultants remain committed to understanding how flood risk can be most effectively managed in the communities of Prestolee and Stonecloug. The EA continues to work towards developing a preferred option. Engineering challenges regarding ground conditions, proximity of houses to bank top and any potential future flood wall have meant that the design process has unfortunately taken longer than expected.

The EA has recently undertaken further modelling works and finalised the ground investigation report which has provided a better understanding of the ground conditions in the area. Using this information, the EA is continuing to work with its consultants and contractors to develop a constructible and affordable solution. Consultants have also recently conducted a number of environmental surveys at the site including a Biodiversity Net Gain baseline survey.


Written Question
Property: Bolton South East
Monday 14th March 2022

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 132232, on Property: Bolton South East, what the challenges are that have arisen in the delivery of the project.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Over the last 18 months several design challenges have arisen including space for construction, ground conditions and level of bedrock. Last week the Environment Agency (EA) wrote to the community to explain these challenges and to be clear that there may be an impact on programme and delivery of a flood risk scheme within the discussed timescales. The EA is committed to working towards finding both a technical solution and to maintain an open and honest relationship with the community. The EA is working with partners to strive to ensure that any funding gap is removed so that a construction contract can be awarded.

The EA has a close working relationship with the local Flood Action Group and has held meetings to provide updates and take questions. The EA, in co-operation with partners United Utilities and Bolton Council, has completed interim measures such as installation of non-return valves on the surface water system and filling-in of low spots.


Written Question
Property: Bolton South East
Monday 7th March 2022

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the residents of Riverside Drive in Stoneclough in Bolton South East constituency have had their priority status downgraded by the Environment Agency.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

No, despite challenges that have arisen in the delivery of the project, this scheme retains its High Priority rating.