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1727284

registered interest
date	04/09/2024
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	Water Companies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is his policy that water companies in breach of their operating licence are able to continue to operate with no material sanction.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Charlie Maynard
uin	4320
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2024 answer text <p>Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator, carries out its work in the manner it considers best meets its duties, including its duty to secure that water companies properly carry out their functions.</p><p> </p><p>Where companies have failed to meet statutory or licence obligations, Ofwat is responsible for enforcing. Ofwat have the power to take action through an enforcement order or financial penalty (up to 10% of a company’s relevant annual turnover).</p><p> </p><p>The ultimate enforcement tool is an application for special administration. The Secretary of State, or Ofwat with the consent of the Secretary of State can apply to the High Court for a special administration order. The High Court can only make a special administration order in certain circumstances, including where it is satisfied that:</p><ul><li>There has been or is likely to be a contravention of a principal duty (i.e. The general duties under sections 37 and 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991) or</li><li>an enforcement order where, in either case, it is serious enough to make it inappropriate for the company to continue to hold its appointment or licence; or</li><li>the company is or is likely to be unable to pay its debts.</li></ul> answering member constituency Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice answering member printed Emma Hardy grouped question UIN 4333 question first answered 13/09/2024 10:47:58 answering member 4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy
tabling member	5325

1727285

registered interest
date	04/09/2024
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	Thames Water
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps with Ofwat to place Thames Water in special administration.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Charlie Maynard
uin	4321
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2024 answer text <p>The Government and Ofwat – the financial regulator for the water sector – are carefully monitoring the situation, and Ofwat continues to engage with Thames Water.</p><p> </p><p>The company remains stable, and it would be inappropriate to comment in detail on hypotheticals – however it is important to provide reassurance that the Government is prepared for all scenarios across all our regulated industries – as any government should be.</p> answering member constituency Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice answering member printed Emma Hardy grouped question UIN 4332 question first answered 13/09/2024 10:50:01 answering member 4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy
tabling member	5325

1723762

registered interest
date	26/07/2024
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	Thames Water: Insolvency
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will appoint a special administrator for Thames Water; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by Moody's to downgrade Thames Water's credit rating to junk status on its licence obligations.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Charlie Maynard
uin	2024
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2024 answer text <p>The company remains stable and we are closely monitoring the situation.</p><p> </p><p>It would be irresponsible to comment on hypotheticals.</p> answering member constituency Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice answering member printed Emma Hardy question first answered 05/08/2024 15:41:25 answering member 4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy
tabling member	5325

1645060

registered interest
date	15/06/2023
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	Livestock: Disease 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, whether her Department has undertaken planning exercises in the last 10 years to test the UK's preparedness for managing a farm animal disease outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Robert Courts
uin	189874
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>There have been four UK-wide exercises involving Defra, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency including their operational partners and stakeholder organisations:</p><ul><li>Exercise Holly (July 2021) tested government’s response to an outbreak of African swine fever.</li><li>Exercise Blackthorn (November 2017 to July 2018) tested the response to a major outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD).</li><li>Exercise Willow (2016) examined the UK’s capacity to respond to a large cross-border outbreak of FMD.</li><li>Exercise Walnut (2013) tested the response to an outbreak of classical swine fever.</li></ul><p>We have also completed numerous operational, field and laboratory-based exercises to test and refine contingency plans on a yearly cycle, and our response capability has been tested by real-world outbreaks such as the ongoing outbreak of avian influenza.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 23/06/2023 15:47:25 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4589 label Biography information for Robert Courts

1645061

registered interest
date	15/06/2023
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	Animal and Plant Health Agency
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 assessment she made of the adequacy of Animal Plant and Health Agency veterinary resources; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Robert Courts
uin	189875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>APHA has approximately 430 veterinary posts and at the end of May 2023, 60 of these were vacant. Recruitment is underway and locum vets are being used while vacancies are being filled. Because of the nature of APHA work, veterinary resource needs can change rapidly. This was seen during last winter and the large avian influenza outbreak that required a prioritising resource allocation and the temporary expansion of the Agency’s workforce.</p><p> </p><p>APHA has contracts in place to enable it to bring in more veterinary resource from private veterinary practices at times of peak demand and this was heavily used during the outbreak.</p><p> </p><p>APHA also was also able to draw on veterinary resource from core Defra. There are other potential changes to APHA’s responsibilities which will require more veterinary resource. These changes are individually impact assessed to identify resource requirements. One such example is the new Border Operating Model where APHA is likely to need significant extra veterinary resource to check imported live animals. Defra provides APHA with additional funding to expand veterinary resource where needed.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 23/06/2023 10:12:58 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4589 label Biography information for Robert Courts

1645062

registered interest
date	15/06/2023
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	Avian Influenza: Vaccination
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 discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on developing an avian influenza vaccination trade strategy.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Robert Courts
uin	189876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 23/06/2023 15:43:23 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4589 label Biography information for Robert Courts

1645071

registered interest
date	15/06/2023
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	Animal and Plant Health Agency: Finance
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 much funding she plans to allocate to the Animal and Plant Health Agency in each of the next five financial years.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Robert Courts
uin	189884
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>The Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) Defra funding for financial year 2023-24 is £185.2 million RDEL (Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit) and £15.7 million CDEL (Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit). Indicative funding for 2024-25 has been set but is not yet confirmed and is expected to be agreed by January 2024. Future year funding beyond this is subject to the Government-wide spending review process which will determine the overall funding for Defra and APHA.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 23/06/2023 10:05:22 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4589 label Biography information for Robert Courts

1645072

registered interest
date	15/06/2023
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	Birds: Disease 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, whether her Department plans to take steps to (a) review and (b) update the notifiable avian disease control strategy, published on 30 August 2018.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Robert Courts
uin	189885
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>Current avian influenza disease control policy considers the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice, reflects our experience of responding to past outbreaks of exotic animal disease and is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control. Defra’s approach to avian influenza is set out in the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fnotifiable-avian-disease-control-strategy-2015&amp;data=05%7C01%7CEDC.outbreak.comms%40defra.gov.uk%7C66d08106fb534d86977008db6e56be2c%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638225091055673566%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=B8v8nGXcZRImr36W5Oecl5q5UFJjuSzn38Gdmm5oTbE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain</a>, published in September 2019. This document is currently under review and is being updated to reflect the recent legislative and policy changes that have already been implemented and an updated version will be published on gov.uk prior to the 2023/2024 high risk season. The Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain is supported by the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fmitigation-strategy-for-avian-influenza-in-wild-birds-in-england-and-wales&amp;data=05%7C01%7CEDC.outbreak.comms%40defra.gov.uk%7C66d08106fb534d86977008db6e56be2c%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638225091055673566%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=XeGc%2BnAP%2FT24UkTVHYQcz6SQGIA7qwBD2RlRBdjlLno%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales</a>, an updated version of which was published in March 2023.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 23/06/2023 15:36:07 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4589 label Biography information for Robert Courts

1645073

registered interest
date	15/06/2023
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	Animals and Animal Products: France
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to take steps to suspend the import of (a) animals and (b) animal products from France after the commencement of its avian flu vaccination programme in autumn 2023.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Robert Courts
uin	189886
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>It is important to note that, according to Great Britain's Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy, avian flu vaccination, barring those in licensed English zoos, is currently not permitted for poultry and captive birds. These steps represent our commitment to maintaining animal and public health.</p><p>In response to France's commitments on its autumn 2023 avian flu vaccination programme, my department has formed a task force to explore broader vaccination use as a preventive measure against avian influenza.</p><p>This group, consisting of Government and industry experts, will formulate potential domestic strategies, with considerations for trade impact and necessary mitigations to prevent trade barriers, potentially including suspension of import of animals and animal products from France. All proposed changes will be backed by robust risk assessments.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 23/06/2023 15:32:19 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4589 label Biography information for Robert Courts

1567568

registered interest
date	17/01/2023
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	Agriculture: Subsidies
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 much funding was released from the Basic Payment Scheme following the reduction of direct payments to farmers in England in the (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 financial year.
tabling member constituency	Witney
tabling member printed	Robert Courts
uin	125434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2023 answer text <p>Applying reductions to Direct Payments frees up money to be spent on financial assistance under our other schemes for farmers and land managers. As set out in our Future Farming and Countryside Programme annual report, published in October 2022, we spent £1.654 billion on Direct Payments in financial year 2021 to 2022. That was part of a total spend of £2.294 billion on existing farming schemes and our new financial assistance schemes, as set out in that report.</p><p>Information about spend on Direct Payments and financial assistance under our other schemes for financial year 2022 to 2023 will be included in an annual report to be published later this year.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 24/01/2023 15:01:05 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4589 label Biography information for Robert Courts