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1132956

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2019
	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	Circuses: 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 his Department is taking to prevent domestic animals being harmed and exploited in circuses.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	266247
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 regulations) came into force on 1 October 2018. The regulations require anyone in England who is in the business of keeping or training animals (regardless of whether they are domestic or wild kept animals) for exhibition, educational or entertainment purposes, including within a circus, to be licensed by the relevant local authority.</p><p> </p><p>The regulations include powers for local authorities to inspect the premises where the animals are kept to ensure minimum welfare standards are being maintained. In addition, all kept animals including those in a circus are protected by the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. If anyone considers that an animal in a circus is suffering or its welfare is being compromised then they should report it to the local authority who have powers under the 2006 Act to investigate, or to the RSPCA who will also investigate such matters.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 26/06/2019 16:54:41 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1132957

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2019
	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	Dog Fighting
	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 prevent people giving away dogs online to tackle the dog fighting industry.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	266248
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government abhors the mistreatment of animals, including organised dog fighting. It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to be involved in or to promote animal fighting including dog fighting. The Government has announced it will increase the maximum custodial penalty for animal cruelty, including animal fighting, from six months to five years’ imprisonment and legislation will be introduced as soon as possible.</p><p> </p><p>In relation to online advertising of pets and other animals, the Government has worked with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG - a group of animal welfare, veterinary and animal keeping interests) who promote the responsible advertising of pet animals. Five online animal adverting platforms have adopted PAAG’s minimum standards for advertising animals which are endorsed by the Government. The minimum standards include that the websites run automated checks for key words and terms such as banned dog breeds, and filter for misleading or inappropriate adverts which are then removed. The websites must exclude any advert where there is a reasonable concern for the health and welfare of the animal involved and provide a clearly visible function for purchasers to report illegal or inappropriate adverts. The Government will continue to work with PAAG to encourage more online advertising platforms to sign up to PAAG’s minimum standards.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 26/06/2019 16:52:11 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1132958

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2019
	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: Tagging
	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 dogs were microchipped in 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	266249
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government estimates, from figures provided by the relevant microchip databases, that around 8.1 million dogs in the UK were microchipped in 2018. This represents around 90% of all dogs in the UK.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 26/06/2019 16:49:31 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1108685

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	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	Sheep
	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 help support the profitability of sheep farming.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	239211
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government remains committed to a successful and resilient sheep sector and is confident of the sector’s ability to thrive outside of the EU.</p><p> </p><p>We are confident that the measures contained within the Agriculture Bill will enable the sheep industry and other farming sectors to improve their productivity and competitiveness, while also improving our environment.</p><p> </p><p>As any responsible Government would, we are preparing for the possibility of no deal, which is why we have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption for the sheep sector as much as possible in that eventuality.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 08/04/2019 15:07:08 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1108686

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	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	Meat: Export Duties
	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 he has had with his EU counterparts on tariffs for UK meat exports.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	239212
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>Under the deal negotiated between the UK and the EU, there would be no tariffs or quotas on UK exports of meat to the EU, either during the implementation period or in the context of the future economic partnership to be negotiated.</p><p> </p><p>By contrast, we expect that the EU’s most favoured nation (MFN) tariff regime would apply to UK exports in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, and there is no indication that the EU would modify its tariff regime as a result of our departure.</p><p> </p><p>As the Secretary of State said at the NFU conference in January, nobody can be blithe or blasé about the real impact on food producers of leaving without a deal.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 09/04/2019 14:02:51 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1108687

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	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: Pollution
	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 he has had with farmers on water pollution from fertilisers.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	239213
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>Policy relating to water pollution from agricultural activity is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State meets farmers regularly to discuss a variety of important issues, including water pollution caused by agriculture.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has recently run several public consultations relevant to water pollution from agriculture, including from fertiliser use. Farmers have been invited to contribute to the Dame Glenys Stacy review of farm inspections and the Clean Air Strategy. Farmers will also play a crucial part in delivering the next River Basin Management Plans and will be engaged throughout the process.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State will continue to meet farming and agricultural representatives to discuss the future role they can play in protecting the water environment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 08/04/2019 15:12:45 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1077255

	registered interest
	date	25/02/2019
	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	Food: Sales
	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 encourage people to purchase locally-sourced food.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	225467
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2019 answer text <p>The Government is keen to see an increase in the amount of locally grown seasonal produce consumed in the UK. The Plan for Public Procurement, published under the 2010-2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government, includes a balanced scorecard to help define the criteria of bids for food and catering contracts.</p><p>The scorecard rewards tenders which commit to serve locally sourced food and those that highlight the benefits of seasonal increases in the availability of certain types of produce. Use of the balanced scorecard is mandatory for central Government departments and executive agencies, and Defra is working to increase its uptake in the wider public sector.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 05/03/2019 10:32:30 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1077258

	registered interest
	date	25/02/2019
	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	Food: Storage
	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 plans to maintain funding for Private Storage Aid schemes after the UK has left the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	225470
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2019 answer text <p><strong></strong></p><p>European regulations concerning private storage aid are being retained under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, should the Secretary of State choose to operate a scheme in England after we leave. This is a devolved matter and similar powers to operate private storage aid will exist for Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh Ministers.</p><p> </p><p>The Agriculture Bill contains powers which would allow the Secretary of State to amend the retained EU legislation on private storage aid, with the aim of eventually phasing the schemes out in England. It also gives the Secretary of State the ability to amend the schemes’ general operation, so they can be run in a way appropriate for the domestic market while the Government consults on phasing the scheme out. While for the most part there is a weak economic case for market intervention, there may be very specific circumstances in which granting private storage aid will make overall economic sense. For this reason, powers to use private storage in response to exceptional market conditions are being retained in the Bill.</p><p> </p><p>The Agriculture Bill extends similar powers to Welsh Ministers and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government is able to rely on the retained EU legislation regarding public intervention and private storage aid.</p><p> </p><p>We are working with all the devolved administrations on common UK frameworks where coordination would be necessary or desirable and, with the agreement of the devolved administrations, we expect market intervention schemes of this nature to be part of such a framework.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 05/03/2019 10:28:52 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson