Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1300090

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Inland Waterways and Rivers: Sewage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that untreated sewage is not discharged into rivers and other inland waters.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	164600
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2021 answer text <p>Tackling the harm caused by sewer overflows is a top priority for this Department.</p><p> </p><p>Since the privatisation of water companies, around £25 billion has been invested to reduce pollution from sewage, covering improvements in sewage treatment and in sewer overflows.</p><p> </p><p>During periods of significant rainfall untreated sewage diluted by rainwater will discharge through storm overflows to avoid streets, premises and sewage treatment plants from being flooded. Water companies are committed in the five-year business planning period (2020-25) to a significant programme of improvements to the monitoring and management of storm overflows at a cost of around £1.1 billion. This investment includes undertaking 800 investigations and 798 improvement schemes to provide environmental improvements by reducing spills from frequently spilling overflows.</p><p> </p><p>I recognise that there is more to do to manage sewage pollution. I met water company CEOs in September last year and made clear that the volumes of sewage discharged into rivers and other waterways in extreme weather must be reduced. To achieve this, I have set up a new Taskforce - bringing together Government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs - which has agreed to set a long term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows. The Taskforce is now working on plans to start making progress towards that goal, and they have commissioned research to gather evidence on the costs, benefits and feasibility of different options.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies are currently producing for the first time comprehensive Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans to assess the capacity of their wastewater networks. We are also taking key steps through the Environment Bill to require water companies to produce such Plans on a statutory basis. These plans will be another tool to help address the risks that storm overflows pose to the environment.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 16/03/2021 13:17:20 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1300091

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Hedgehogs: Conservation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of hedgehog numbers in the UK; and if he will take steps to move hedgehogs to schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to strengthen their protections.
tabling member constituency	Ynys Môn
tabling member printed	Virginia Crosbie
uin	164682
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2021 answer text <p>The latest ‘Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals’ estimates the hedgehog populations in the UK is 522,000.</p><p> </p><p>Wildlife policy is a devolved issue and this response is with regard to England only.</p><p>The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 sets out a legal duty for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) to undertake a review of Schedule 5 and 8 (protected species) every five years to determine whether any further species warrant inclusion, and for the Secretary of State to lay this advice before Parliament. This review process is science led and evidence based, with criteria for consideration of species agreed across the jurisdictions of the UK. The JNCC is currently reviewing schedule 5 and will make recommendations for any additions at the end of this year.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 11/03/2021 14:38:25 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4859 label Biography information for Virginia Crosbie

1300099

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Sites of Special Scientific Interest
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ensure that Sites of Specific Scientific Interest remain protected from housing development.
tabling member constituency	Rochester and Strood
tabling member printed	Kelly Tolhurst
uin	164538
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2021 answer text <p>Sites of Special Scientific Interest are afforded statutory protection through the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Additionally, the National Planning Policy Framework clarifies that development on land within or outside a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and which is likely to have an adverse effect on it (either individually or in combination with other developments), should not normally be permitted. The only exception is where the benefits of the development in the location proposed clearly outweigh both its likely impact on the features of the site that make it of special scientific interest, and any broader impacts on the national network of Sites of Special Scientific Interest.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 16/03/2021 13:19:53 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst

1300100

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Flood Control
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate flood defences in England.
tabling member constituency	Rochester and Strood
tabling member printed	Kelly Tolhurst
uin	164539
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2021 answer text <p>By the end of March 2021, the Environment Agency will have invested £2.6 billion to better protect 300,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion risk between 2015/16 and 2020/21. Since April 2015, the Environment Agency and other Risk Management Authorities will have completed almost 750 new flood and coastal defence projects across the country.</p><p> </p><p>From April 2021, a new 6 year investment programme will start, which will invest the £5.2 billion announced in the March 2020 Budget. This will ensure a further 336,000 homes and non-residential properties are better protected from flooding and coastal erosion.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, a further up to £170 million will be spent to accelerate work on 22 shovel-ready flood defence schemes that will begin construction before the end of 2021/2022. This additional funding will provide an immediate boost to jobs supporting local economies as communities recover from the impact of coronavirus.</p><p> </p><p>An additional £200 million will also be invested in the Innovative Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. This will help over 25 local areas over six years to take forward wider innovative actions that improve their resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 16/03/2021 12:38:24 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst

1300113

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Horse Racing: Animal Welfare
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many horses in the racing industry have died in training, as opposed to on course as a result of racing, in the UK in each of the last five years; and what the (a) ages of those horses and (b) causes of death were.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	164632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2021 answer text <p>Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards is a priority. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British racing’s governing and regulatory body, is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses. The BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.</p><p>The Government welcomed the creation of the racing industry’s Horse Welfare Board (HWB), which was formed in March 2019. The Board is chaired by Barry Johnson, former President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (who is independent of the BHA) and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare experts. The Board has assured Defra that it is committed to doing all it can to make the sport safer and improve welfare outcomes. The HWB published its five-year horse welfare strategy “A life well lived” last year:</p><p><a href="http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf" target="_blank">http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf</a>.</p><p>The strategy contains 20 recommendations for the industry aimed at ensuring the best possible safety and quality of life for racehorses.</p><p>One of the plan’s five identified outcomes (outcome 3 - 'Best possible safety') aims to reduce and minimise, as far as reasonably possible, avoidable injuries and fatalities to racehorses. This targets a reduction in injuries and fatalities on racecourses but also those that occur in, or as a result of, training or pre-training methods, or which are linked to breeding. The HWB has underlined the importance of data to better understand the causes of injuries and fatalities to help achieve this outcome.</p><p> </p><p>Defra does not hold any information related to racehorse fatalities including those that have occurred during training. However, as well as collating and publishing data on racing fatalities, the BHA, following the recommendations contained within the HWB’s strategy, is working to improve data gathering in relation to thoroughbred racehorse fatalities in training. This includes analysis of data and reporting mechanisms which already exist regarding horses in training, and how these can be improved to provide additional data on fatal injuries.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State has not met representatives of either the BHA or the HWB between 2019 and now. I can confirm that the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at that time met with the BHA’s Director of Equine Health and the HWB’s Independent Chair in May 2019 where both sides agreed that further action was required to make the sport safer and to improve animal welfare standards across the industry. My officials plan to meet with the BHA in due course and will continue to engage with the sector to ensure that the welfare of racehorses, and reducing the fatalities and injuries that result from racing, remain at the forefront of the BHA’s priorities in delivering the plan’s outcomes.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 164633 164635 164636 question first answered 11/03/2021 16:58:17 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill

1300115

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Horse Racing: Animal Welfare
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that horses in the racing industry are not abused, subjected to cruelty or die as a result of training or racing.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	164633
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2021 answer text <p>Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards is a priority. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British racing’s governing and regulatory body, is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses. The BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.</p><p>The Government welcomed the creation of the racing industry’s Horse Welfare Board (HWB), which was formed in March 2019. The Board is chaired by Barry Johnson, former President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (who is independent of the BHA) and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare experts. The Board has assured Defra that it is committed to doing all it can to make the sport safer and improve welfare outcomes. The HWB published its five-year horse welfare strategy “A life well lived” last year:</p><p><a href="http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf" target="_blank">http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf</a>.</p><p>The strategy contains 20 recommendations for the industry aimed at ensuring the best possible safety and quality of life for racehorses.</p><p>One of the plan’s five identified outcomes (outcome 3 - 'Best possible safety') aims to reduce and minimise, as far as reasonably possible, avoidable injuries and fatalities to racehorses. This targets a reduction in injuries and fatalities on racecourses but also those that occur in, or as a result of, training or pre-training methods, or which are linked to breeding. The HWB has underlined the importance of data to better understand the causes of injuries and fatalities to help achieve this outcome.</p><p> </p><p>Defra does not hold any information related to racehorse fatalities including those that have occurred during training. However, as well as collating and publishing data on racing fatalities, the BHA, following the recommendations contained within the HWB’s strategy, is working to improve data gathering in relation to thoroughbred racehorse fatalities in training. This includes analysis of data and reporting mechanisms which already exist regarding horses in training, and how these can be improved to provide additional data on fatal injuries.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State has not met representatives of either the BHA or the HWB between 2019 and now. I can confirm that the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at that time met with the BHA’s Director of Equine Health and the HWB’s Independent Chair in May 2019 where both sides agreed that further action was required to make the sport safer and to improve animal welfare standards across the industry. My officials plan to meet with the BHA in due course and will continue to engage with the sector to ensure that the welfare of racehorses, and reducing the fatalities and injuries that result from racing, remain at the forefront of the BHA’s priorities in delivering the plan’s outcomes.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 164632 164635 164636 question first answered 11/03/2021 16:58:17 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill

1300118

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Horse Racing: Animal Welfare
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times he has met the (a) British Horseracing Authority and (b) Horse Welfare Board on matters relating to race horse welfare in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2021 to date.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	164635
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2021 answer text <p>Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards is a priority. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British racing’s governing and regulatory body, is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses. The BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.</p><p>The Government welcomed the creation of the racing industry’s Horse Welfare Board (HWB), which was formed in March 2019. The Board is chaired by Barry Johnson, former President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (who is independent of the BHA) and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare experts. The Board has assured Defra that it is committed to doing all it can to make the sport safer and improve welfare outcomes. The HWB published its five-year horse welfare strategy “A life well lived” last year:</p><p><a href="http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf" target="_blank">http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf</a>.</p><p>The strategy contains 20 recommendations for the industry aimed at ensuring the best possible safety and quality of life for racehorses.</p><p>One of the plan’s five identified outcomes (outcome 3 - 'Best possible safety') aims to reduce and minimise, as far as reasonably possible, avoidable injuries and fatalities to racehorses. This targets a reduction in injuries and fatalities on racecourses but also those that occur in, or as a result of, training or pre-training methods, or which are linked to breeding. The HWB has underlined the importance of data to better understand the causes of injuries and fatalities to help achieve this outcome.</p><p> </p><p>Defra does not hold any information related to racehorse fatalities including those that have occurred during training. However, as well as collating and publishing data on racing fatalities, the BHA, following the recommendations contained within the HWB’s strategy, is working to improve data gathering in relation to thoroughbred racehorse fatalities in training. This includes analysis of data and reporting mechanisms which already exist regarding horses in training, and how these can be improved to provide additional data on fatal injuries.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State has not met representatives of either the BHA or the HWB between 2019 and now. I can confirm that the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at that time met with the BHA’s Director of Equine Health and the HWB’s Independent Chair in May 2019 where both sides agreed that further action was required to make the sport safer and to improve animal welfare standards across the industry. My officials plan to meet with the BHA in due course and will continue to engage with the sector to ensure that the welfare of racehorses, and reducing the fatalities and injuries that result from racing, remain at the forefront of the BHA’s priorities in delivering the plan’s outcomes.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 164632 164633 164636 question first answered 11/03/2021 16:58:17 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill

1300120

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Horse Racing: Animal Welfare
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to 130 horses dying on course in 2020, what steps he plans to take to ensure that horses are not killed as the result of racing.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	164636
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2021 answer text <p>Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards is a priority. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British racing’s governing and regulatory body, is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses. The BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.</p><p>The Government welcomed the creation of the racing industry’s Horse Welfare Board (HWB), which was formed in March 2019. The Board is chaired by Barry Johnson, former President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (who is independent of the BHA) and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare experts. The Board has assured Defra that it is committed to doing all it can to make the sport safer and improve welfare outcomes. The HWB published its five-year horse welfare strategy “A life well lived” last year:</p><p><a href="http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf" target="_blank">http://media.britishhorseracing.com/bha/Welfare/HWB/WELFARE_STRATEGY.pdf</a>.</p><p>The strategy contains 20 recommendations for the industry aimed at ensuring the best possible safety and quality of life for racehorses.</p><p>One of the plan’s five identified outcomes (outcome 3 - 'Best possible safety') aims to reduce and minimise, as far as reasonably possible, avoidable injuries and fatalities to racehorses. This targets a reduction in injuries and fatalities on racecourses but also those that occur in, or as a result of, training or pre-training methods, or which are linked to breeding. The HWB has underlined the importance of data to better understand the causes of injuries and fatalities to help achieve this outcome.</p><p> </p><p>Defra does not hold any information related to racehorse fatalities including those that have occurred during training. However, as well as collating and publishing data on racing fatalities, the BHA, following the recommendations contained within the HWB’s strategy, is working to improve data gathering in relation to thoroughbred racehorse fatalities in training. This includes analysis of data and reporting mechanisms which already exist regarding horses in training, and how these can be improved to provide additional data on fatal injuries.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State has not met representatives of either the BHA or the HWB between 2019 and now. I can confirm that the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at that time met with the BHA’s Director of Equine Health and the HWB’s Independent Chair in May 2019 where both sides agreed that further action was required to make the sport safer and to improve animal welfare standards across the industry. My officials plan to meet with the BHA in due course and will continue to engage with the sector to ensure that the welfare of racehorses, and reducing the fatalities and injuries that result from racing, remain at the forefront of the BHA’s priorities in delivering the plan’s outcomes.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 164632 164633 164635 question first answered 11/03/2021 16:58:17 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill

1300127

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Dogs: Imports
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Intra-Trade Animal Health Certificates were issued for dogs entering the UK in (a) November 2020 and (b) December 2020.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	164637
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2021 answer text <p>In November 2020, there were 4,944 Intra Trade Animal Health Certificates issued for dogs entering the UK. In December 2020, there were 4,424 Intra Trade Animal Health Certificates issued for dogs entering the UK.</p><p> </p><p>This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 16/03/2021 15:05:12 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill

1300129

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Pet Travel Scheme: Dogs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Answer to Question 155409 of 24 February 2021 advised that 17,984 dogs were imported under the Pet Travel Scheme in July 2020 but the Answer of 9 September 2020 to Question 85115 stated that 5,423 dogs were imported under the Pet Travel Scheme in July 2020.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	164638
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2021 answer text <p>The number of dogs imported under the Pet Travel Scheme in July 2020 was 17,984.</p><p> </p><p>In answer to question 85115, the figure of 5,423 was based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) advised at the time that the information supplied was a true reflection of the data that had been provided.</p><p> </p><p>APHA is unable to guarantee the accuracy of this data, as it can only rely on the information provided by third parties. Subsequently, figures may be amended as third parties submit new data, as occurred in this instance.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 16/03/2021 17:21:36 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill