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, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2023 to Question 192229 on Horses: Exports, how many Equidae were recorded leaving the UK via (a) Dover and (b) other ports in each year from 2016 to 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not hold data on horse exports by place of departure.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the safety of (a) pedestrians and (b) other road users.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. Key changes include the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings, guidance on safe passing distances when overtaking cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders and clarification that cyclists have priority at junctions when travelling straight ahead. The changes will lead to improvements in road safety as they encourage more mutual respect and consideration for all road users.
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, how many horses were recorded leaving the UK via (a) Dover and (b) other ports in each year from 2016 to 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The export management system does not record whether the animal is a horse or other breed of Equidae (e.g. donkey).
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 June to Question 187499 on Horses: Animal Welfare, how many times she has met with the (a) British Horseracing Authority and (b) the Horse Welfare Board since 2018; and what discussions she has held with those organisations on horse welfare.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Ministers and Defra officials have regular meetings with the British Horseracing Authority and others involved in the equine sector to discuss the welfare of horses. Lord Benyon has met a number of bodies representing equine sports on frequent occasions including speaking at the National Equine Forum in March 2023, and having meetings with vets and welfare bodies.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to help ensure that the requirements of design standard CD195, Designing for cycle traffic, are applied in all National Highways regions.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
National Highways is committed to support all road users including walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. Its research and feedback, combined with insight from others such as Transport Focus, helps NH to understand how its services and roads may need to evolve to meet the needs of customers.
CD 195 Designing for Cycle Traffic is one of a suite of documents that National Highways has to ensure the most appropriate provision is provided for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. National Highways are working with Active Travel England to ensure the design standards referenced are applied wherever practical, supporting the delivery of active travel provision across the network.
All National Highways schemes are required to follow the GG142 Walking, Cycling and Horse-Riding Assessment and Review Process. This process enables designers to determine the most appropriate and proportionate type of facility for their scheme. This could be in the form of dedicated cycle provision designed to CD 195 Designing for Cycle Traffic, or it could be shared use walking and cycling facilities designed to CD 143 Designing for walking, cycling and horse-riding. As much of National Highways’ network is rural and located away from residential and industrial areas, providing shared use walking and cycling provision may often be a more proportionate approach for the anticipated levels of usage.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their reason for replacing the Union Jack flag flying above His Majesty's Treasury with a flag to celebrate Gay Pride.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Following instruction from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (the government department responsible for informing other departments regarding flag flying protocol), for the assigned period the flag in recognition of Pride month was flown over 100 Parliament Street. This is the official and principal address and entrance for the following Departments:
HM Revenue and Customs
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
Department of Science, Innovation and Technology
The Union Flag was flown during the same period at 1 Horse Guards Road, the official and principal address and entrance for the following Departments:
HM Treasury
UK Export Finance
Northern Ireland Office
Cabinet Office
This has been confirmed with the operatives who manage the flags process for designated flying days.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the statutory post implementation reviews of (1) the African Horse Sickness (England) Regulations 2012, (2) the Animals and Animal Products (Examination for Residues and Maximum Residue Limits) (England and Scotland) Regulations 2015, (3) the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013, (4) the Sea Fishing (Points for Masters of Fishing Boats) Regulations 2014, and (5) the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra expects to publish the below PIRs as follows:
(1) The African Horse Sickness (England) Regulations 2012 - July 2023
(2) The Animals and Animal Products (Examination for Residues and Maximum Residue Limits) (England and Scotland) Regulations 2015 - Autumn 2023
(3) The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 - August 2023
(4) The Sea Fishing (Points for Masters of Fishing Boats) Regulations 2014 - September 2023
(5) The Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 - July 2023
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was provided to the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) works to prevent, detect and investigate fraud within our food system. The NFCU was initially established as an intelligence function in 2015 following recommendations made to Government in the Elliott Review, conducted in the aftermath of the horse meat incident in 2013. An independent review into the NFCU in 2018 recommended that the NFCU expand to provide an investigative capability.
The following table shows the funding provided to the NFCU from 2018 to 2023.
Year | Funding |
2018/19 | £3.2 million |
2019/20 | £5.6 million |
2020/21 | £4.6 million |
2021/22 | £4.7 million |
2022/23 | £5.0 million |
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has made for the celebrations of His Majesty the King’s 75th birthday in November 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The official celebration of Sovereign's birthday took place on Saturday 17th June 2023 with the traditional ceremony of Trooping the Colour, The King's Birthday Parade. This was His Majesty’s first Birthday Parade as Sovereign, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport supported this important occasion through the flying of flags, including the Parade route of The Mall and Horse Guards Road.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2023 to Question 191585 on Swimming Pools: Local Government, which councils operate lidos.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not directly hold data on individual lidos and Sport England data cannot be used to estimate the number of temporarily closed facilities at a point in the past.
The numbers of lidos in operation in England on local authority owned sites from 2010-2019 are as follows:
2010 – 89
2011 – 89
2012 – 84
2013 – 84
2014 – 85
2015 – 85
2016 – 84
2017 – 84
2018 – 82
2019 – 82
As of July 2023, there are 81 lido pools across 63 local authority owned sites in England. The total number of facilities by local authority area is as follows:
Barnet - 1
Bedford - 1
Bradford - 1
Brighton and Hove - 1
Buckinghamshire - 3
Cambridge - 3
Camden - 5
Central Bedfordshire - 1
Cheltenham - 2
Cherwell - 1
Cheshire East - 1
Colchester - 1
Cornwall - 3
Dacorum - 1
Derbyshire Dales - 1
Dorset - 1
East Hertfordshire - 2
East Lindsey - 1
Eden - 1
Guildford - 1
Hackney - 1
Haringey - 2
Hillingdon - 2
Horsham - 1
Lambeth - 1
Medway - 1
Mendip - 2
Mid Sussex - 1
New Forest - 1
North Hertfordshire - 4
North Kesteven - 1
North West Leicestershire - 2
Nuneaton and Bedworth - 1
Oxford - 1
Peterborough - 4
Plymouth - 3
Richmond upon Thames - 1
Rushmoor - 1
South Oxfordshire - 1
South Somerset - 1
St Albans - 1
Stroud - 2
Teignbridge - 1
Tonbridge and Malling - 1
Torbay - 1
Vale of White Horse - 1
Wandsworth - 2
West Berkshire - 2
West Oxfordshire - 2
Wiltshire - 1
Wokingham - 1
Worthing - 1
Wychavon - 1
Of these, 10 lidos are temporarily closed (Bedford (1), Cornwall (2), Hillingdon (1), New Forest (1), North Hertfordshire (1), Peterborough (3), Worthing (1)).