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1127012

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Pollinators
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) highlight the importance to the planet of bees and other pollinators such as butterflies and bats, and (2) protect pollinator species.
	tabling member printed	Lord Pendry
	uin	HL15773
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>Protecting pollinators is a priority for this Government. The Government supports two major events to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators and encourage people to take action.</p><p> </p><p>Firstly, our ‘Bees’ Needs’ campaign, which we run with a number of partners. In July 2018, with the generous support of our hosts, Shaftesbury PLC, we put on a week long event in Carnaby Street (renamed ‘Carnabee’ Street for the week) to raise awareness of the steps we can all take to protect pollinators. With immense gratitude to our hosts Shaftesbury PLC, this event will be repeated this year from 8 to 14 July.</p><p> </p><p>Defra also organises, in partnership with the Green Flag Awards, an annual Bees’ Needs Champions Awards to recognise and celebrate examples of exemplary initiatives undertaken by schools, local authorities, universities, community groups and bee farmers to support pollinators.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is taking a range of other steps to protect pollinator species. In 2014 we published a ten year National Pollinator Strategy, setting out how the Government, conservation groups, farmers, beekeepers and researchers can work together to improve the status of the 1,500 or so pollinating insect species in England.</p><p> </p><p>We are also creating habitat for pollinators. In 2015, we introduced new and simple wildlife ‘packages’ within Countryside Stewardship to make it easier for farmers to provide flower rich margins or pollen and nectar plots on fields to support wild pollinators.</p><p> </p><p>The Government also recently announced £60,000 to develop pollinator habitat mapping and is supporting largescale projects to bring landowners and conservationists together to provide habitat in Devon and Hampshire. Natural England, our statutory nature conservation adviser, continues to work with a range of landowning and NGO partners to support the recovery of threatened species such as the barberry carpet moth, shorthaired bumblebee and chequered skipper butterfly.</p><p> </p><p>We are supporting monitoring work. In collaboration with research institutes and volunteer organisations, we have established a pollinator monitoring and research partnership to gather further data and improve our understanding of the status of pollinators and pollination services in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking steps to reduce pressures on pollinators. We have implemented science led restrictions on neonicotinoids based on scientific evidence that they carry risks to pollinators. We continue to tackle threats from invasive species, such as the Asian hornet, and protect honey bees from pests and diseases through the National Bee Unit’s nationwide team of bee inspectors.</p><p> </p><p>We are safeguarding honey bee health. Collaboration has been a central tenet of the work by the Government and Bee Inspectors to protect honey bee health. Along with beekeeping associations, the Government has carried out a decade of work under the Healthy Bees Plan, drafted in 2009 as a means of sustaining our honey bee population. We will be reviewing this work this year and using valuable lessons from this to develop our future strategy.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 21/05/2019 15:04:18 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	457 label Biography information for Lord Pendry

1127416

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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	Cats: Pet Travel Scheme
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that cats and kittens brought into the UK under the pet passport scheme do not carry diseases and parasites, including tapeworm and non-UK types of tick.
	tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
	uin	HL15827
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to preserving the UK’s high standards of biosecurity and animal welfare. The EU Pet Travel Scheme requires all pets travelling to Great Britain on approved routes to be declared. 100% of these are then subject to documentary and identity checks. Documentary checks for cats include a passport, signed by an Official Veterinarian in the country of origin, certifying that the cat has been vaccinated against rabies.</p><p>Since 2012, when the UK harmonised with the EU Pet Travel Scheme, we have no longer required tick or tapeworm treatment for cats or kittens. Risk assessments have been undertaken, both before harmonisation and since, which supported the removal of these requirements. As such, we have no plans to change the import requirements for pet cats. However, we continue to monitor the disease situation and will undertake a further formal risk assessment if evidence indicates that one is warranted.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 29/05/2019 13:44:59 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

1127417

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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	Smuggling: Cats
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what border checks are carried out to ensure that cats and kittens are not smuggled illegally into the UK from EU countries.
	tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
	uin	HL15828
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to preserving the UK’s high standards of biosecurity and animal welfare. The EU Pet Travel Scheme requires all pets travelling to Great Britain on approved routes to be declared. 100% of these are then subject to documentary and identity checks. All commercial EU consignments of dogs or cats receive documentary checks on entry and the Animal and Plant Health Agency conducts further risk based checks away from the border. We have increased resourcing at major UK ports to detect smuggled animals and continue to work collaboratively with Border Force, sharing intelligence in order to disrupt illegal imports.</p><p>On 13 May this year a statutory instrument[1] was laid in Parliament which will introduce a ban on commercial third party sales of puppies and kittens in England. This decision followed a public consultation which received over 6,500 responses, 96% of which supported the proposal. The ban itself is planned to come into force on 6 April 2020 and, once in place, anyone seeking to buy or adopt a kitten will have to deal directly with the breeder or with one of the UK’s many animal rehoming centres. Restricting the sale of kittens to licensed breeders has the potential to help deter people motivated to illegally import kittens for the purpose of financial gain.</p><p>[1] <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2019/9780111186954" target="_blank">The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019</a></p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 29/05/2019 14:14:39 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble attachment 1 file name The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019.pdf title Draft Statutory Instrument
	tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

1127425

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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	Lung Diseases: Medical Equipment
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of respiratory inhalers that (1) end up in landfill, and (2) are incinerated.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL15836
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2019 answer text <p>Defra has not conducted an assessment of the percentage of respiratory inhalers which are ultimately landfilled or incinerated.</p><p> </p><p>Waste holders act in accordance with the waste hierarchy, so where waste does arise it is managed in the most resource-efficient way possible. The reuse or recycling of waste is preferred to energy recovery, through incineration for example, or disposal to landfill.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 24/05/2019 11:40:02 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1126871

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Private Rented Housing: New Forest
	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 consultation in accordance with the Minister's Mandate preceded changes in the policy of letting dwellings in the New Forest administrated by the Forestry Commission; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	New Forest West
	tabling member printed	Sir Desmond Swayne
	uin	254708
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Minister’s Mandate, which is mainly concerned with the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the Crown lands of the New Forest, does not contain any references to the provision or the letting of dwellings.</p><p> </p><p>The principles guiding the Forestry Commission’s approach to housing in the New Forest are unchanged. The Commission aims primarily to meet its operational requirements in respect of housing for its own workforce, some of whom are also Commoners, but also continues to offer discounted residential rents to other Commoners in the New Forest. The Commission plays a vital role in the life of the New Forest, and over the past 25 years has done much to support commoning through its land management and property policies. This includes substantial public subsidy on the basis of the benefits to commoning and maintaining the traditions of the New Forest, but this has to be balanced with the need for financial sustainability in managing the local housing stock and the cost to the taxpayer of caring for the nation’s forests.</p><p> </p><p>I would expect the Forestry Commission to seek approval from Ministers before any fundamental change in approach is implemented.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 22/05/2019 16:19:42 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne

1126853

	registered interest
	date	16/05/2019
	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	Weedkillers: Cancer
	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 his Department has made of whether the weedkiller RoundUp is a potential cause of cancer.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254714
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>Like all pesticides, Roundup (a range of weedkillers containing glyphosate) is subject to strict regulation to ensure that its use will not harm people or have unacceptable effects on the environment.</p><p> </p><p>The European Commission decided in December 2017 to approve glyphosate for continuing use until December 2022. The decision followed a scientific risk assessment by the European Food Safety Authority, which included a very close scrutiny of the evidence on whether glyphosate causes cancer. UK experts participated in that assessment and supported its conclusions.</p><p> </p><p>All pesticide products, including Roundup, are tightly regulated by the Health and Safety Executive. They are only authorised for use if scientific data demonstrates that they will not harm people or have unacceptable effects on the environment.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to keep an active watch on the scientific evidence on glyphosate.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 20/05/2019 16:17:51 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126901

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Assistance Animals
	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 people travelling with assistance dogs to the EU will face disruption at EU borders at (a) train stations, (b) ports and (c) airports in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254715
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government understands that assistance dog users, who have become familiar with the benefits of using the EU Pet Travel Scheme to travel to EU Member States, are concerned about the changes that could take place when the UK leaves the EU.</p><p> </p><p>In any exit scenario owners of assistance dogs from the UK will still be able to travel to the EU with their animals. After exit we want owners of assistance dogs to be able to take their animals to the EU with the minimum of disruption.</p><p> </p><p>If the UK leaves the EU without a deal and becomes an unlisted third country under the EU Pet Travel Scheme, assistance dogs would need to be microchipped and vaccinated against rabies, as now, but would also need to undergo a blood titre test to demonstrate that their rabies vaccination has been effective.</p><p> </p><p>On 25 March 2019 Defra issued updated guidance on pet travel to Europe after Brexit, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-after-brexit" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-after-brexit</a>. This advises of the contingency planning owners should consider to make sure their animals can travel to the EU in the scenario that the UK is not granted listed third country status under EU Pet Travel Scheme rules. The guidance advises owners to contact their vet at least four months before travelling to get the latest advice.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has submitted an application for the UK to become a listed country under the EU pet travel regulations. Should the UK become a Part 1 listed country, there would be little change to the current arrangements, with only minor changes needed for documentation and, in most cases, no change for owners from what they currently need to do in terms of their animal’s health preparation. It is now for the EU Commission to consider our application for listed status.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to work with assistance dog organisations to share the latest advice and guidance (in accessible formats) with their members. We will also work with carriers to ensure that assistance dog owners have the correct health preparation and documentation to enable them to enter the EU. When further information becomes available it will be published on GOV.UK. Email alerts on pet travel can be subscribed to at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications</a>. We will also ensure that vets who issue pet travel documents have the most up to date information.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 21/05/2019 14:19:39 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126884

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Canoeing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May 2019 to Question 247567 on Canoeists, what recent voluntary agreements between landowners, canoeists and those wishing to use the water for recreational purposes have been concluded in the last three years, and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Harrow West
	tabling member printed	Gareth Thomas
	uin	254720
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>This information is not held by the Department.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 23/05/2019 09:14:46 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	177 label Biography information for Gareth Thomas

1126852

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Staff
	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 full-time equivalent staff were employed by his Department in (a) May 2017 and (b) May 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	254722
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>Please find the answer to this question below. The information is taken as at the last working day of each month.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Headcount</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>FTE</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2017</p></td><td><p>2,245</p></td><td><p>2,159.91</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2018</p></td><td><p>3,769</p></td><td><p>3,606.33</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>All information relating to headcount and FTE figures for Core Defra and ALBs is published monthly in the Monthly Workforce Management Information report. Please see the link below for more information:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://data.gov.uk/dataset/9fb1ed1f-00c9-421b-ab18-c30c14559681/workforce-management-information-defra" target="_blank">https://data.gov.uk/dataset/9fb1ed1f-00c9-421b-ab18-c30c14559681/workforce-management-information-defra</a></p><p> </p><p>The answer covers permanent (payroll staff) for the department only. The response excludes contingent labour (Agency Staff/Consultants/Contractors/Interim Managers).</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 20/05/2019 16:50:10 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1126873

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Dangerous 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, what steps he is taking against dog owners whose dogs have attacked (a) other dogs and (b) people; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
	tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
	uin	254725
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes it an offence to allow a dog, of any breed or type, to be dangerously out of control. This includes instances where dogs attack other animals including dogs, as well as people. We have discussed this application of the 1991 Act with the police.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 21/05/2019 14:40:48 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson