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1696332

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2024
	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	Windsor Framework
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on trade to Northern Ireland from Great Britain of repealing regulation 13 of the Windsor Framework Retail Movement Scheme Regulations 2023 and the powers of the EU in Article 14(5) of the EU regulation 2023/1231.
	tabling member printed	Lord Dodds of Duncairn
	uin	HL3278
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government has now laid the Windsor Framework (Implementation) Regulations 2024 before Parliament. These regulations will provide powers for the Government to fulfil the commitments in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper on upholding Northern Ireland's place in the UK internal market.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 29/04/2024 12:33:48 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
	tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

1700428

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
	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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward (a) legislative proposals to amend the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and (b) other legislative proposals to reclassify catapults as illegal weapons when used to harm wildlife.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
	tabling member printed	Ian Byrne
	uin	21315
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously, including those involving the use of catapults. The Government has no current plans though to amend the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>While the Act does not include catapults in the list of weapons that a person must not use to kill an animal, it is still illegal under this Act to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species. There are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure or inflict harm on wildlife under provisions not just in this Act, but also in the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and in the Animal Welfare Act 2006.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 25/04/2024 09:34:19 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4831 label Biography information for Ian Byrne

1689461

	registered interest
	date	16/02/2024
	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: Meters
	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 make it his policy to allow water customers to have a meter removed from their property.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington North
	tabling member printed	Charlotte Nichols
	uin	14360
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government has committed to a 20% reduction in water demand by 2038 and halving leakage by 2050. Metering is central to identifying and reducing leakage and enabling better value for money for the consumer. The Government set out that water companies in areas of ‘water stress’ can compulsorily meter, following evidence it provides value for money and has customer support in their resource planning. Where this is the case, a customer may not be able to switch back to unmeasured charges. Other water companies do offer the opportunity for customers to switch back to an unmeasured charge following meter installation. All water companies offer social tariffs as part of affordability packages for consumers who may be struggling to pay their water bills.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 25/04/2024 09:29:18 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4799 label Biography information for Charlotte Nichols

1700581

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Animal Experiments
	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 his Department is taking steps to help encourage companies to transition away from testing products on animals.
	tabling member constituency	Watford
	tabling member printed	Dean Russell
	uin	21466
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>Animal testing of chemical substances is permitted under UK REACH only as a measure of last resort; this principle is reinforced by the Environment Act 2021. Moreover, UK REACH states that test methods should be regularly reviewed with a view to reducing animal testing and it encourages the use of alternative methods. Testing and assessment of final products is not a part of UK REACH.</p><p> </p><p>The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the UK regulatory authority for veterinary medicinal products. The VMD assesses applications submitted by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry in line with national and international regulations and guidance to ensure safe and effective veterinary medicines of good quality are marketed. These requirements may therefore necessitate animal testing either to develop and register new veterinary medicines or for routine product quality control, to ensure the continued quality, safety and efficacy batch to batch. Non-animal tests are not always available and the VMD is committed to phasing out the use of animals for testing purposes where possible, in accordance with the principles of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Furthermore, the UK is a signatory to the European Pharmacopoeia (which sets minimum quality standards of medicines) and the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes and this commitment to the 3Rs is also enshrined in the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 under which scientific procedures in animals are regulated.</p><p> </p><p>The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation (the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, Andrew Griffith) recently announced that the Government will publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science, which will be published in the summer. He also requested that we double our investment in research to achieve these approaches next year to £20 million across the system in 2024/25.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 24/04/2024 16:31:17 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4812 label Biography information for Dean Russell

1700361

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Wildlife: Crime
	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 have discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on (a) increasing penalties for wildlife crime, (b) widening the range of wildlife crimes which receive notifiable status and (c) incorporating wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
	tabling member printed	Ian Byrne
	uin	21248
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously. In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25.</p><p> </p><p>Significant sanctions are already available to judges to hand down to those convicted of wildlife crimes - up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. Furthermore, 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 – including acts against wildlife - by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Sentencing those convicted of wildlife crimes is, however, a matter for judges; these decisions are rightly taken independently of Government.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has actively supported stakeholders in making representations to the Home Office regarding the issue of making wildlife crimes notifiable. However, regardless of notifiable status, when it comes to responding to the most prevalent wildlife crimes, Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.</p><p> </p><p>Wildlife crime is not mandated as authorised professional practice and therefore is not a training requirement via the College of Policing. However, the NWCU (funded to a large degree by Defra) currently provides training to police officers across the UK. This training reflects the National Police Chiefs' Council wildlife crime strategy and provides comprehensive training in UK wildlife crime priorities and emerging trends. Since November 2022 the NWCU has trained 890 officers and is in the process of building a comprehensive digital training platform for wildlife crime which police officers and police staff will be able to access nationwide. Additionally, the NWCU provides a digital information hub for almost 1000 police staff, with up-to-date guidance on investigating wildlife crime.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 21038 question first answered 24/04/2024 14:49:39 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4831 label Biography information for Ian Byrne

1700287

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Wildlife: Crime
	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 make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) classifying wildlife crimes as either-way offences with a maximum sentence of up to five years imprisonment, (b) giving wildlife crime notifiable status and (c) incorporating wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.
	tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
	tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
	uin	21038
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously. In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25.</p><p> </p><p>Significant sanctions are already available to judges to hand down to those convicted of wildlife crimes - up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. Furthermore, 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 – including acts against wildlife - by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Sentencing those convicted of wildlife crimes is, however, a matter for judges; these decisions are rightly taken independently of Government.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has actively supported stakeholders in making representations to the Home Office regarding the issue of making wildlife crimes notifiable. However, regardless of notifiable status, when it comes to responding to the most prevalent wildlife crimes, Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.</p><p> </p><p>Wildlife crime is not mandated as authorised professional practice and therefore is not a training requirement via the College of Policing. However, the NWCU (funded to a large degree by Defra) currently provides training to police officers across the UK. This training reflects the National Police Chiefs' Council wildlife crime strategy and provides comprehensive training in UK wildlife crime priorities and emerging trends. Since November 2022 the NWCU has trained 890 officers and is in the process of building a comprehensive digital training platform for wildlife crime which police officers and police staff will be able to access nationwide. Additionally, the NWCU provides a digital information hub for almost 1000 police staff, with up-to-date guidance on investigating wildlife crime.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 21248 question first answered 24/04/2024 14:49:39 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1700089

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Southern Water: Meters
	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 he is taking to ensure customers of Southern Water are able to install water efficiency measures in their meter chambers.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	20971
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>Southern Water is developing its next Water Resources Management Plan and its draft plan included the proposed to update water meters with smart meters across its customers by 2030 through an extensive replacement programme. The company plans to undertake 10,000 household water audits per year. The company is due to reconsult on its plan this summer. It will not be granted permission to finalise its plan until Defra are satisfied that it is appropriate, including assurance that the water efficiency programme is robust, sufficiently ambitious and enables customers to be efficient with the water they use.</p><p> </p><p>Most water efficiency interventions by water companies are directed to water use within properties. Southern Water have not specified measures beyond smart metering that directly involve the meter chamber. Water meters are normally water company property and measures in the meter chamber would not usually be undertaken by customers.</p><p> </p><p>Southern Water reported through its 2022/23 annual review that it had undertaken smart water meter trials in 1500 homes. The average water use across Southern Water households was 128 litres per person per day in 2022/23, in line with its forecasts and below the latest national average of 141. The Environment Agency and Defra track whether water companies are effectively reducing water consumption across household and business customers each year and escalate concerns where applicable.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 24/04/2024 09:43:33 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1700365

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Sewage: Water Treatment
	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 his Department has produced guidance for operators of sewage processing plants on the use of covers in areas of high population density.
	tabling member constituency	Oxford East
	tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
	uin	21252
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The operation of sewage processing plants is a matter for water companies who must comply with any permit conditions that have been set.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 24/04/2024 09:03:38 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1700366

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Sewage: Water Treatment
	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 his Department has produced guidance for operators of sewage processing plants on the use of Nereda reactors in areas of high population density.
	tabling member constituency	Oxford East
	tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
	uin	21253
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The operation of sewage processing plants is a matter for water companies who must comply with any permit conditions that have been set. The use of Nereda reactors, a particular type of wastewater treatment process, must be in accordance with any relevant permit conditions.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 24/04/2024 08:51:51 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1700076

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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	Members: Correspondence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 29 January and (b) 4 March 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare relating to haggis exports.
	tabling member constituency	Weston-super-Mare
	tabling member printed	John Penrose
	uin	20947
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued in due course. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 23/04/2024 16:44:09 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	1584 label Biography information for John Penrose