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Written Question
Pets and Wildlife: Crime
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the use of catapults to (a) kill and (b) maim (i) wildlife and (ii) pets.

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

The Government takes crimes against wildlife and against pets seriously, including those involving the use of catapults. Under provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and Animal Welfare Act 2006, there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure or inflict harm on wildlife and in the event that a member of the public believes such an offence has taken place, they are encouraged to report the matter to the police so they can investigate. In particular where pets are concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 realises the Government’s manifesto commitment to increase the sentences available to our courts for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.


Written Question
Veterinary Medicine: Labour Turnover
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help increase staff retention in the veterinary sector.

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

Defra is aware of the challenges facing the veterinary sector, including retention of qualified veterinary surgeons. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, as the regulator for the veterinary profession, published its Workforce Action Plan in 2022 to progress issues of recruitment, retention and return. Defra works closely with the RCVS on issues concerning the veterinary profession and continues to keep reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act, where amendments might support increases in recruitment and retention, under review.


Written Question
Bluetongue Disease
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to mitigate the threat from bluetongue virus as the midge vector increases in activity.

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

Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) officials took robust action following findings of cases of Bluetongue virus, following our well-established processes for managing cases of disease. We are planning for a possible resurgence of the disease over the coming months as the weather warms, and the risk of infected midges blowing over from northern Europe increases. We recently held a Ministerial roundtable with key industry stakeholders to discuss the options and understand their priorities over the coming months. Surveillance of susceptible animals and epidemiological assessments continue, and we are actively engaging with vaccine manufacturers on the development of BTV-3 vaccines for use in the UK. We are modelling the risk of incursion and proactively raising awareness with animal keepers in higher-risk areas, and are monitoring vector activity.


Written Question
Horses: Northern Ireland
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

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 cost associated with veterinary checks on horses moving from (a) Great Britain to Northern Ireland and (b) Northern Ireland to Great Britain since the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

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

The Government's Movement Assistance Scheme is available to reimburse costs (including veterinary checks), in line with the terms of the scheme, for horses moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Horses moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain have unfettered access.


Written Question
Animal Welfare: Charities
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)

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 potential impact of provisions in the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill on the work of animal rescue charities.

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

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill completed second reading in the House of Commons on 15 March 2024.

In August 2021 we launched a consultation on the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. It was a wide-ranging consultation with excellent engagement with key stakeholders including animal rescue charities. We are carefully reviewing the feedback from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and the consultation response will be published soon.


Written Question
Import Controls: Disease Control
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)

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 9 February 2024 to Question 11320 on Import Controls: Disease Control, which categories of consignment will be required to pay the Common User Charge, by risk level.

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

Defra has consulted on its proposed methodology and rates to inform charging levels and will publish an update on the Common User Charge shortly. This will include the Government response to the Common User Charge consultation. Further information on the policy and rates will be included in the upcoming publication.


Written Question
Dangerous Dogs: Euthanasia
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many XL Bully dogs have been seized by the police since 1 January 2024; and how many and what proportion of those seized have been euthanised.

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

Defra does not hold data on XL Bully dogs which have been seized by the police. This information would be held by individual police forces.


Written Question
Methane: Pollution Control
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the usage of emerging technologies that help directly reduce methane levels in the atmosphere.

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

Methane reduction technologies are within scope of Defra’s £270 million Farming Innovation Programme and were in scope of its predecessor, Farming Innovation Pathways.

Defra’s evidence programme includes Research & Development exploring ways to reduce emissions from livestock. The portfolio includes research on nutrient and livestock management, feed and grazing regimes, methane suppressing feed products, ways to identify and selectively breed for more sustainable and productive animals, and ways to better manage manures.

Defra considers that Methane Suppressing Feed Products (MSFPs) are an essential tool to decarbonise the agriculture sector. In England, our objective is to establish a mature market for these products, encourage uptake and mandate the use of MSFPs in appropriate cattle systems as soon as feasibly possible and no later than 2030. We are committed to working with farmers and industry to achieve this goal, and in early March convened the inaugural meeting of a Ministerial-led industry taskforce on MSFPs.

The UK catalysed action on methane during our COP26 Presidency, including being one of the first countries to support the Global Methane Pledge - a collective commitment to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030, against 2020 levels. As part of its commitment to the Global Methane Pledge, the UK published a Methane Memorandum in November 2023 during COP27. The Memorandum outlines how the UK has achieved a robust track record in reducing methane emissions and how it continues to explore and implement measures to secure future progress. We were pleased that methane emissions were prioritised at COP28, with more countries joining the Pledge and a particular focus on mobilising finance to support developing countries with their methane emissions. The UK committed £2 million to the Methane Finance Sprint.


Written Question
Methane: Pollution Control
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of funding is the Government investing in methane reduction technologies.

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

As announced in the Government’s Net Zero Strategy 2021, we are bringing forward £295 million of capital funding which will allow local authorities in England to prepare to implement free weekly separate food waste collections for all households in England. This will deliver significant carbon savings over sending food waste to landfill.

Methane reduction technologies are within scope of Defra’s £270 million Farming Innovation Programme and were in scope of its predecessor, Farming Innovation Pathways.

While primarily a safety focussed programme, the Health and Safety Executive-led Iron Mains Risk Reduction Programme (IMRRP) is expected to invest approximately £4 billion in replacing iron gas mains with plastic pipework over the current Ofgem price control period (2021-2026), improving safety and reducing methane emissions. By the conclusion of this programme in 2032, it is estimated that the IMRRP will have achieved a 66% reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions from the gas distribution network since the programme commenced in 2013.


Written Question
Poultry: Animal Welfare
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Animal Welfare Committee report Opinion on the welfare implications of different methods and systems for the catching, carrying, collecting and loading of poultry, published in March 2023, whether they have any plans to introduce the recommendation contained in that report to amend the law so that "it is legally permitted to lift chickens, and turkeys weighing less than 10-kg, by two legs".

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Animal Welfare Committee Opinion on the welfare implications of different methods and systems for the catching, carrying, collecting and loading of poultry was published in February 2024. We are carefully considering its findings before deciding on next steps and are working with the Welsh and Scottish Governments to ensure a consistent approach across Great Britain.