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Written Question
Falcons
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the peregrine falcon population in England of the theft of peregrine falcon eggs for sale of chicks to the Middle East.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Defra has not made any assessment of the impact of peregrine falcon egg theft on the peregrine population.

The Government does, however, take all wildlife crime seriously, including the theft of wild bird eggs, which is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25 to target wildlife crime priorities, in particular crimes against birds of prey, which is a national wildlife crime priority.

Defra supports the work of the Bird of Prey Crime Priority Delivery Group, and that of the CITES Priority Delivery Groups, which bring together police, government and stakeholders from conservation organisations to tackle this type of persecution. In addition, we are providing funding to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) to develop DNA forensic analysis for the police and other organisations investigating crimes against peregrine falcons.

Additionally, the UK is an active member of the Intergovernmental Task Force on the Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT). The MIKT facilitates international cooperation to tackle bird crime, including the illegal persecution and taking of raptors.


Written Question
Birds: Eggs
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions for stealing protected wild birds' eggs in England were successful in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice holds information on prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing outcomes for summary offences in relation to nests and eggs of birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (HO offence code 19002). The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained through the Outcomes by Offence data tool in the following link: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

A further breakdown of the published data is required to extract figures specific to stealing the eggs of protected wild birds, for the offences ‘Take eggs of Schedule 1 wild bird’ and ‘Take eggs of non-Schedule 1 wild bird’, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Between 2019 and June 2023, there was one prosecution and one conviction in 2021 on a principal offence basis, relating to the eggs of a non-schedule 1 wild bird. Figures for the rest of 2023 will be available in the next update of the Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly publication, expected in May 2024.


Written Question
Food: Labelling
Friday 8th March 2024

Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)

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 improve food labelling so that (a) consumers are effectively informed on which products have been produced (i) locally and (ii) in the UK and (b) local products are not undercut by external competition which is not produced to the same standard.

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

Country of origin information is required for fresh and frozen meat derived from beef cattle, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry, as well as uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, wine and some fish products. It is also required for all prepacked food where its omission would be misleading to consumers. In any case, where an indication of origin or provenance is given, either in words or pictures, this must be accurate. Buying food locally and supporting their local food economy is important to many consumers and where any label indicates that a food is produced locally, this must not be misleading to a consumer.

As recently announced by the Secretary of State, we will soon be launching a consultation on clearer food labelling. This will explore how we can better highlight imports that do not meet UK welfare standards. The consultation will also seek evidence and views on how origin information could be improved for consumers.


Written Question
Animal Welfare: Import Controls
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)

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 bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that the UK requires imports of (a) meat, (b) milk, (c) eggs and (d) fish to meet UK animal welfare standards.

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

The Government is proud of the high food standards that underpin our high-quality Great British produce. We will never compromise on these.

All agri-food products, including those from countries we have trade agreements with, must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards.

The Government will use our expertise and influence to drive enhanced animal welfare and food safety standards globally.


Written Question
Slaughterhouses
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that abattoirs are appropriately staffed; and whether he is taking steps to help ensure the resilience of the carbon dioxide supply required for the slaughter of pigs and poultry.

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

The UK benefits from having a resilient and successful meat processing sector. However, we recognise the challenges it continues to face with the recruitment of skilled labour. The Government supports the industry in its recruitment and training of more domestic workers including through apprenticeship schemes, and in utilising the benefits that automation can bring. Defra also works closely with stakeholders across the food industry, including the meat processing sector, to encourage CO2 contingency planning and resilience. The recent tightness in the supply of CO2 has eased with the market now more stable. The industry has also taken steps to make efficiencies and to use alternative CO2 sources where possible.


Written Question
Antibiotics: Drug Resistance
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)

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 is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance in humans arising from the overuse of antibiotics on farms.

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

The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’, which is underpinned by the UK’s 20-year Vision to Contain and Control AMR by 2040. Defra is a co-signatory with the Department of Health and Social Care on the 5-year National Acton Plan (NAP) and 20-year vision on AMR, and Defra leads on delivering the animal, plant and environment elements. The AMR NAP lays out the UK Government’s commitment to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals to reduce the risk of development and spread of AMR in animals and humans, while safeguarding animal health and welfare. A key component of this plan is to reduce the need for antibiotics, which is achieved through good farm management, biosecurity and disease prevention.

In the UK, we have a well-established antimicrobial use and resistance surveillance programme, which includes monitoring of sales and use of antibiotics in animals as well as routine monitoring of AMR in major food-producing species, healthy pigs and poultry. These surveillance programmes allow us to monitor progress and results are published every year in the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance Sales and Surveillance (UK-VARSS) report.

The recently published UK-VARSS report shows that sales of antibiotics in food-producing animals are at their lowest ever level, with a 59% reduction since 2014. This highlights the success of the UK’s voluntary and collaborative approach between the Government and the farming and veterinary sectors to make sustainable reductions in antibiotic use while ensuring high animal health and welfare. The report also highlights that sales of highest priority, critically important antibiotics have reduced by 82% since 2014 and account for less than half a percent of total sales. This is to ensure that these medically important antibiotics are protected for use in humans.

The newly published third edition of the UK’s One Health report, a joint report from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the UK Health and Security Agency, brings together antibiotic use and resistance data for people and animals. Sales of antibiotics in 2019 show that approximately two thirds of antibiotics are used in people while one third are used in animals. This report demonstrates the Government’s One Health approach to tackling AMR to keep antibiotics working in both people and animals.

The UK is now in the process of developing the second five-year NAP, which will run from 2024-2029. This will build on progress made in the 2019-2024 NAP and set out challenging ambitions and actions for the next five years, which will set us on course for achieving our long-term national and international ambitions.


Written Question
Pigs and Poultry: Animal Welfare
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 12 June 2023 to Question 188424 on Animal Welfare, what criteria he is using to determine whether the time is right to consult on the use of (a) crates for farrowing pigs and (b) cages for laying hens.

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

We want our farming sectors to continue to be viable and competitive. There are several economic challenges currently being faced by the pig and poultry sectors, not least costs of feed and energy and the continued threat of avian influenza for laying hens, which is why we took the decision that the time is not right to consult on phasing out cage systems.

The market is already driving the move away from using cages for laying hens with over 60% of eggs coming from free range production. The UK also has a significant outdoor pig sector with 40% of the national sow breeding herd farrowing freely on outdoor units with no option for confinement.

We are firmly committed to maintaining our strong track record on animal welfare and continue to work with the farming industry to maintain and enhance our high standards. The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, part of our new domestic agricultural policy, supports farmers to produce healthier, higher welfare animals. The Government’s welfare priorities for the Pathway include supporting producers to transition away from confinement systems.


Written Question
Pigs and Poultry: Animal Welfare
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to pages 6 and 12 of his Department's Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021, what his timeline is for examining the use of cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 November 2023 to the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford, PQ UIN 157.


Written Question
Antibiotics: Drug Resistance
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)

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 reduce the threat of antimicrobial resistance to human health from overuse of antibiotics on industrial farms.

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

The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’, which is underpinned by the UK’s 20-year Vision to Contain and Control AMR by 2040 . Defra is a co-signatory with the Department of Health and Social Care on the 5-year National Acton Plan and 20-year vision on AMR, and Defra leads on delivering the animal, plant and environment elements.

The UK is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals to reduce the risk of development and spread of AMR in animals and humans. In the UK, we have a well-established antimicrobial use and resistance surveillance programme, which includes monitoring of sales and use of antibiotics in animals as well as routine monitoring of AMR in major food-producing species, healthy pigs and poultry. These surveillance programmes allow us to monitor progress and results are published every year in the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance Sales and Surveillance (UK-VARSS) report.

The recently published UK-VARSS report shows that sales of antibiotics in food producing animals are at their lowest ever level, with a 59% reduction since 2014. This highlights the success of the UK’s voluntary and collaborative approach between Government and the farming and veterinary sectors to make sustainable reductions in antibiotic use whilst ensuring high animal health and welfare. The report also highlights that sales of highest priority, critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs) have reduced by 82% since 2014 and account for less than half a percent of total sales. This is to ensure that these medically important antibiotics are protected for use in humans.

The newly published third edition of The UK’s One Health report, a joint report from Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), brings together antibiotic use and resistance data for people and animals and sales of antibiotics in 2019 show that approximately two thirds of antibiotics are used in people whilst one third are used in animals. This report demonstrates the UK Government’s One Health approach to tackling AMR to keep antibiotics working in both people and animals.


Written Question
Agriculture: T-levels
Monday 20th November 2023

Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to extend the livestock production syllabus of the agriculture land management and production T-level to include (a) pigs and (b) sheep.

Answered by Robert Halfon

The Agriculture, Land Management and Production T Level is designed to equip students with the core knowledge and skills they need to enter a range of agriculture, land management and production occupations.

In their second year, students choose an occupational specialism to complete. The Livestock Production Occupational Specialism in the T Level provides students with a strong foundation knowledge relating to cattle, sheep/lambs, pigs and poultry production.

The assessed skill elements within the T Level currently relate to cattle and sheep/lambs. While the skills related to pig production was considered for inclusion, in addition to cattle and sheep, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education had concerns that delivering and assessing pigs content would not be practical due to manageability and resourcing issues for providers and the need to ensure comparability of assessment.

T Levels are designed to provide high quality learning for students and deliver the knowledge and skills employers need. T Level content may evolve as the underpinning occupational standards are updated and as the department continues to regularly review the content through engagement with employers, providers and industry experts.