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1140331

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
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	Horses: 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, if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of prosecutions under the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988; what steps the Government is taking to ensure the implementation of adequate protections for tethered horses; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	278918
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988 was repealed by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”) and its provisions replaced with section 9 of the 2006 Act. This introduces a duty on people to ensure the welfare needs of animals for which they are responsible. Local authorities, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the police all have powers of entry under the 2006 Act and can investigate allegations of poor welfare and take enforcement action where necessary. Furthermore, under the 2006 Act anyone is able to investigate allegations of poor welfare and take forward prosecutions. It is on this basis that the RSPCA successfully prosecute 800 to 1,000 people each year, including in relation to equines and equine tethering.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory 'Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids' which has a specific Annex dedicated to tethering. RSPCA inspectors will use the code when investigating horse welfare incidents, such as inappropriate tethering, to check compliance. Although it is not an offence to breach the code, it can be used as evidence in court, for example if a case for inappropriate horse tethering was brought against the owner.</p><p> </p><p>We agree that more can be done to spread best practice amongst horse owners. On this basis, I recently hosted a horse tethering roundtable with key stakeholders including horse welfare groups, local authorities and the RSPCA. Following this we will continue to engage with key stakeholders to tackle this important issue.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 23/07/2019 15:00:43 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1137878

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
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	Motor Vehicles: Litter
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 monitor the number of (a) prosecutions and (b) fixed penalty notices for dropping litter from a vehicle in England and Wales annually, what plans he has to help reduce the incidence of such offences; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	275124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government does not collect or monitor any data on the number of prosecutions or fixed penalty notices for littering from vehicles and has no plans to do so. The Government has given powers to local authorities that they requested and it is now for them to use.</p><p> </p><p>On 30 November last year we launched our new campaign, “Keep it, Bin it”, with support from the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy. The campaign imagery is being displayed in all seven Extra Motorway Service Areas (MSA) across England.</p><p>This year saw the fourth year that Highways England has supported Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean; 19,450 bags of litter were collected in this year’s spring clean, more than doubling last year’s collection of 8,000 bags.</p><p>We continue to work with Highways England to investigate new ways of reducing littering on our major roads. This includes introducing behavioural interventions such as trialling car and lorry-height funnel bins at the Roadchef MSA in Maidstone on 21 June last year, along the M20, to test whether they reduce littering. The number of bags of litter collected on the on-slips reduced by 47.1%.</p><p> </p><p>The first round of the Litter Innovation Fund awarded grants to two projects trialling interventions to tackle roadside litter. The results will be published shortly.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 16/07/2019 13:22:17 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1137600

registered interest
date	08/07/2019
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	Litter
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 (a) undertake a review of the Government's litter strategy to ensure greater effectiveness at tackling littering and (b) encourage the prosecution of owners that discard litter from a motor vehicle; and if he will make statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	274450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government published the Litter Strategy for England in April 2017, and while there are no plans to review the Litter Strategy itself, the second annual report will be published shortly.</p><p> </p><p>From April last year, we have given district councils in England (outside London) new powers to hold the keeper of a vehicle responsible for littering offences committed from it by issuing a civil (financial) penalty which is set at the same level as the local fixed penalty for littering. It is up to councils to determine their approach to enforcement, including whether to make use of these powers. Implementation advice was provided to councils to assist them in making use of these powers. London councils already had these powers.</p><p> </p><p>We have also consulted on improved guidance to councils and others on the use of their fixed penalty powers for tackling littering (including littering from vehicles) and related offences. We are currently considering the responses to the consultation and the improved guidance will be published shortly.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 11/07/2019 11:25:02 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1131410

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Animals: 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, what steps he is taking to improve biosecurity in the UK; what recent assessment he has made of the risk of African Swine Fever Virus reaching the UK; and what additional steps he has taken to ensure that trucks transporting pigs are not at risk of transmitting the virus.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	263069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The UK has robust measures and guidance to protect against the introduction of exotic diseases such as African swine fever (ASF). These measures include import bans on livestock and products of animal origin from high risk areas, a movement standstill regime and ban on swill feeding to pigs.</p><p> </p><p>The International Disease Monitoring team regularly assess the changing global animal disease presence and its potential risk to the UK. The most recent assessment was made on June 2019. These ASF assessments are published on the<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring#outbreak-assessments-2019" target="_blank"> gov.uk</a> website.</p><p> </p><p>There is existing legislation which requires the cleansing and disinfection of any vehicles used to transport livestock. Local Authorities are responsible for enforcement and have powers to take action if they believe an operator has not complied with these regulations.</p><p> </p><p>A Government led campaign is currently running to raise awareness of the increased risk of ASF and measures that individuals can take to avoid the accidental introduction of disease. The UK Chief Veterinary Officer has also endorsed the National Pig Association’s #MuckFreeTruck campaign.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 17/06/2019 16:41:20 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1083718

registered interest
date	07/03/2019
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	Pigs: Bovine Tuberculosis
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 TB tests on pigs have returned a negative result after a primary inconclusive test result in England in each year since 2013.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	229700
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2019 answer text <p>We have interpreted the term ‘inconclusive test result’ as suspect pig slaughterhouse cases, tested in abattoirs when TB-like lesions are identified. For these ‘inconclusive’ cases, post mortem samples have been taken and processed for bacteriological isolation of Mycobacterium bovis <em>(M. bovis).</em></p><p>This information is available under the periodical statistics on Gov.UK:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/other-tb-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/other-tb-statistics</a></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>England</p></td><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Total individual animal specimens submitted for post-mortem examination</p></td><td><p><em>of which:- </em>animal specimens where culturing was not attempted</p></td><td><p>Animal specimens which underwent laboratory culture</p></td><td><p><em>of which:-</em> animal specimens with culture results pending at end of period</p></td><td><p><em>of which:-</em> animal specimens that were culture positive for <em>M. Bovis</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>272</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>272</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>191</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>188</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>77</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>74</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>31</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>56</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>67</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>117</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>104</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>111</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>107</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Q1-Q3 2018</p></td><td><p>101</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>97</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 14/03/2019 11:50:37 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1083719

registered interest
date	07/03/2019
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	Pigs: Bovine Tuberculosis
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 the average time taken is from the date of a first sample to a final test result in TB tests on pigs in England for each year since 2013.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	229701
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2019 answer text <p>The average time to obtain results from growing cultures in the laboratory from samples taken from pigs can vary between 42 and 98 days.</p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><strong> Animals</strong></td><td><strong>Average Days</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>2013</strong></td><td>73</td><td>81</td></tr><tr><td><strong>2014</strong></td><td>68</td><td>111</td></tr><tr><td><strong> 2015</strong></td><td>65</td><td>93</td></tr><tr><td><strong>2016</strong></td><td>104</td><td>93</td></tr><tr><td><strong> 2017</strong></td><td>108</td><td>88</td></tr><tr><td><strong> 2018</strong></td><td>144</td><td>92</td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>APHA’s laboratory IT system does not hold the date the sample was taken. The data provided above has been calculated using the date when the samples were received at the APHA laboratory. This data excludes any incomplete submissions or those currently pending.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 14/03/2019 11:38:16 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1043162

registered interest
date	17/01/2019
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	Poultry: 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, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of duck welfare rules for commercial duck farms; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	209783
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2019 answer text <p>The UK already has some of the highest standards of animal welfare, underpinned by existing legislation and farmed animal welfare codes. We are committed to maintaining our high animal welfare standards and to keep improving where possible.</p><p> </p><p>The welfare of ducks is provided for in the general provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. Defra has a statutory duck welfare code which encourages high standards of husbandry.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the main farm assurance schemes have standards in place which their members must also comply with, which set requirements to ensure the health and welfare of commercially produced ducks.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 22/01/2019 12:35:46 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1041785

registered interest
date	15/01/2019
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	Newcastle Disease
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 risk of Newcastle disease in the UK; what advice he is giving to reduce such a risk; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	208954
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2019 answer text <p>Newcastle Disease is a serious notifiable disease in poultry and other birds, and so Defra monitors this disease globally.</p><p> </p><p>There is a continuous low background risk of any notifiable avian disease in the domestic poultry sector in the UK from our indigenous wild bird populations that carry various Newcastle disease viruses. The risk of Newcastle Disease to UK poultry is currently low, particularly so where good biosecurity is practiced by those keeping poultry and other birds. The latest risk assessment is available on gov.uk: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/newcastle-disease-in-sweden" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/newcastle-disease-in-sweden</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance is available to all keepers on gov.uk, including how to spot disease and how to prevent it through the use of good biosecurity. This includes vaccinating birds against the disease, for which a local vet should be consulted, and guarding against the potential for spread by ensuring premises and vehicles are cleansed thoroughly.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 21/01/2019 15:23:35 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1027772

registered interest
date	18/12/2018
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	Drinking Water: Standards
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 (a) improve the cleanliness of drinking water and (b) reduce the low-grade contamination of water supplies by lowering the number of pathogens in water; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	203306
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2019 answer text <p>Drinking Water quality in the UK is required to meet a rigorous and comprehensive set of standards laid down in legislation and set to be protective of public health and these apply to water for all consumers. These requirements are enforced by a robust regulatory regime. Additionally water companies are required to risk assess and mitigate risks of any additional substances not specifically listed and which might otherwise present a potential risk to human health.</p><p> </p><p>With respect to pathogens, companies are required to have in place robust disinfection processes. The standard for bacteria indicative of pollution likely to contain human pathogens is zero (none permitted to be present). It is a criminal offence to supply water that has not been disinfected. In 2017, in England, there was one detection of E.coli from 154,431 samples taken at treatment works and 11 detections of E.coli from 186,163 samples taken from storage points in the network. In all cases action was taken to rectify any issues identified.</p><p> </p><p>The Drinking Water Inspectorate provides independent scrutiny of the performance of water companies in meeting standards and publishes an annual report containing statistics on drinking water quality on its website at <a href="http://www.dwi.gov.uk/about/annual-report/2017/Summary_CIR_2017_England.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.dwi.gov.uk/about/annual-report/2017/Summary_CIR_2017_England.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 07/01/2019 18:00:40 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1020476

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
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	African Swine Fever
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 that African swine fever does not enter the UK; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	199314
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>Defra takes the risk of African Swine Fever (ASF) very seriously. Disease in the UK would have a devastating impact on our pig industry. In response to the spread of ASF in Eastern Europe and the confirmation of disease in feral pigs in Belgium, Defra’s risk assessment level has been raised to medium. This has been extensively and robustly communicated to the industry, all pig keepers and agencies working to protect our biosecurity. Correspondingly we have further increased our disease prevention activities. Defra is continuously closely monitoring the ongoing global disease situation.</p><p> </p><p>EU safeguard measures stops the movement of pigs and potentially risky pig products out of ASF affected areas in Member States. Defra checks the EU data systems to verify this for consignments coming to the UK. We have taken a strong risk based approach to any product we consider may be an issue. Defra is working very closely with the Commission and other MSs, included those affected, to share ASF expertise and knowledge.</p><p> </p><p>Practising strict biosecurity is essential for pig keepers to protect the health of their own animals. The risk of exposure to the pig population in the UK is highly dependent on the level of biosecurity on pig premises and is still considered to be low.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure awareness of the pathways and their risks which could potentially introduce ASF to the UK, all administrations have been running a communications campaign supported by the pig industry and veterinary bodies. This has been targeted with messages appropriate to pig keepers, smallholders, vets, slaughterhouses, hunters and transport operators using a variety of methods. Messaging to pig keepers include that it is essential to adhere to the swill feeding ban, and practise scrupulous biosecurity practices. Another key focus for awareness is people returning from ASF affected areas to remind them that it is essential to cleanse and disinfect vehicles and equipment, and of the risks posed by personal imports of meat from these areas.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has robust contingency plans in place to respond to outbreaks of exotic disease such as ASF and these plans are regularly tested. The disease control measures are set out in the Great Britain African and Classical swine fever control strategy.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 10/12/2018 15:37:02 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight