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1289033

	registered interest
	date	23/02/2021
	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	Watersure
	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 he has made of the potential merits of including (a) people in receipt of attendance allowance and (b) additional benefit recipients in the qualification criteria for the WaterSure Scheme, as outlined in the Water Industry (Charges) (Vulnerable Groups) Regulations 1999.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	157314
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2021 answer text <p>To be eligible for WaterSure, customers must be in receipt of means tested benefits, which provides an appropriate measure for assessing income, and have either three or more children under 19 or a medical condition requiring the extra use of water.</p><p> </p><p>Attendance Allowance is not included as an eligible benefit as it is a non means-tested benefit. Without an income-related criterion, those who are able to afford their water bill may receive financial support funded by other lower income households.</p><p> </p><p>Since the introduction of WaterSure, the legislation has been updated to add and remove benefits, making sure that WaterSure continues to support those most in need of assistance. The Government does not intend to change the eligibility criteria for WaterSure at this time.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies also offer social tariffs, payment breaks, payment matching, debt advice and referral arrangements, and some have independent charitable trusts that make awards to help customers in times of need. The eligibility criteria for social tariffs is not set by the Government, allowing water companies to address the local and regional needs of their customers.</p><p> </p><p>We have asked the independent Consumer Council for Water to undertake a review of existing financial support schemes to ensure consumers who struggle with their water bills can get the support they need. The review will be published this spring.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 01/03/2021 16:49:29 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1289943

	registered interest
	date	25/02/2021
	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	Hunting: Foxes
	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 the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the Hunting Act 2004 to prohibit trail hunt organisers from (a) organising trail hunts in close proximity to areas of high density fox populations and (b) using animal-based scents to set trail hunts.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	159045
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2021 answer text <p>This government will not amend the Hunting Act 2004 and therefore we have not made any assessment of any potential amendments.</p><p> </p><p>The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act, and completely bans hare coursing. The full details of the Hunting Act 2004 exemptions are available online at: <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/37/schedule/1" target="_blank">www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/37/schedule/1</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. Enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 02/03/2021 15:35:02 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1300143

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2021
	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	Hedgehogs: Conservation
	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 protect the UK's hedgehog population.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	164645
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2021 answer text <p>The Environment Bill contains measures that will help improve the status of threatened species, including by setting at least one biodiversity target in law, as well as strengthening the biodiversity duty on public authorities to take action to conserve and enhance biodiversity.</p><p>We are also taking action, through our net gain provisions in the Bill, to support the role of new development in helping protect and create the habitat that our native species, including hedgehogs, need to thrive.</p><p>We are working with stakeholders and end users to determine the specific actions that will be paid for under our new schemes that reward environmental land management. We will set out more details on this later this year. The Agricultural Transition Plan set out examples of the types of actions that we envisage paying for under the schemes, including creating, managing and restoring habitats such as woodland, heathland and species-rich grassland, which could all benefit species such as hedgehog.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 16/03/2021 13:02:35 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1300144

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2021
	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: Production
	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 has taken to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from food production in the run up to COP26.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	164646
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2021 answer text <p>Sustainable agriculture and land use are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement. The 2019 IPCC land-use report set out the critical role that sustainable land use must play in climate mitigation and building resilience. The COP26 Nature Campaign aims to raise the profile of this agenda, building on the Just Rural Transition launched at the UN Climate Action Summit and providing a platform to highlight actions that leading countries are taking to deliver change.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching our Net Zero target is one of this Government's top priorities. We know that this will be a challenge, requiring action across the economy. It will mean changes to the way land is managed to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. We will support the sector to make these changes through the schemes set out in the Agricultural Transition Plan.</p><p> </p><p>The Agricultural Transition Plan published on 30 November 2020 outlined how the Government will support farmers and land managers by investing the money freed up from phasing out direct payments to pay for improvements to the environment, improve animal health and welfare and reduce carbon emissions. Simultaneously, we need to protect and increase our carbon stores, increasing afforestation and peat restoration rates across England, whilst supporting the adaptiveness and resilience of these ecosystems to risks which may arise under a changing climate. Our new environmental land management schemes will help deliver on this and include the Sustainable Farming Incentive, a universal scheme open to all farmers, which will support sustainable approaches to farm husbandry to deliver for the environment, such as actions to improve soil health and water quality, enhance hedgerows and promote integrated pest management.</p><p> </p><p>We will also take steps to reduce emissions through our animal health and welfare schemes and transitional support schemes. For example, we will support action to identify and eliminate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea, which raises greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. And we will provide grants towards the cost of equipment, technology and infrastructure that will improve farmers’ efficiency, benefiting the environment. These could include precision agriculture and low-emission nutrient application equipment.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/03/2021 12:16:47 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1304008

	registered interest
	date	18/03/2021
	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	Genetically Modified Organisms
	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 has taken to assess the negative effects of gene editing on (a) agricultural and food systems and (b) agroecological and organic farmers.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	171735
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2021 answer text <p>Gene Editing (GE) describes a range of technologies that can achieve genetic changes of the type that are selected for in traditional breeding, such as insertions, deletions and, occasionally, translocations of genetic material.</p><p>Defra's 10-week consultation of the regulation of genetic technologies sought views and evidence on GE including its application in a wide range of farming and agri-food systems, and the use of GE to produce genetic changes which could have been introduced by traditional breeding. The consultation included questions on the health and environmental impacts of these technologies and we have asked independent scientific experts for advice on any safety issues raised. The consultation ended on 17 March and a Government response will be published within three months of it closing.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 23/03/2021 16:32:39 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1308062

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2021
	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	Beverage Containers: Deposit Return Schemes
	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 his Department will assess the potential merits of implementing a deposit return scheme that includes containers of all sizes earlier than 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	179615
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government committed, in its 2019 manifesto, to introduce a deposit return scheme to incentivise people to recycle drinks containers.</p><p> </p><p>On 24 March we published our second consultation on implementing a deposit return scheme for drinks containers. Further details of the proposed deposit return scheme, including the size of drinks containers being considered as part of the scope of the scheme, are presented in this second consultation.</p><p> </p><p>Timelines have been reviewed to ensure we allow sufficient time for the roll out and implementation of a complex policy, and we therefore propose to implement the scheme in 2024, with views on this being taken in the consultation.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/04/2021 13:07:19 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1310607

	registered interest
	date	20/04/2021
	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	Rivers: Sewage
	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 discussions he has had with water companies on the discharging of raw sewage into English rivers.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	184560
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2021 answer text <p>Tackling the harm caused by sewer overflows is a top priority for this department.</p><p> </p><p>To achieve this, the new Storm Overflows Taskforce - bringing together Government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs - has agreed to set a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows. The Taskforce is meeting regularly and working on plans to start making progress towards that goal, and they have commissioned research to gather evidence on the costs, benefits and feasibility of different options.</p><p> </p><p>We are also introducing new duties that will require the Government to publish a plan by September 2022 to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows and to report progress to Parliament on implementing that plan. We are also introducing duties requiring water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operations on an annual basis. These legally binding obligations on water companies and Government will reduce pollution in rivers, protecting wildlife and public health.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Secretary and the Environment Agency Chair have met with underperforming water companies to discuss how Government and industry can work together to drive better environmental performance. The Environment Secretary has set out clear expectations for water companies to improve their environmental performance in the future. I have also met water company CEOs and made clear that the volume of sewage discharged into rivers and other waterways in extreme weather must be reduced.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies are committed in the five-year business planning period (2020-25) to a significant programme of improvements to the monitoring and management of storm overflows at a cost of around £1.1 billion. This investment includes undertaking 800 investigations and 798 improvement schemes to provide environmental improvements by reducing spills from frequently spilling overflows.</p><p> </p><p>With regards to penalties and enforcement, the Environment Agency currently regulates water companies in their operation of storm overflows to ensure they only discharge under strict permitted conditions. Where discharges occur outside of these conditions, the Environment Agency investigates and takes appropriate action, which includes enforcement action if necessary.</p><p> </p><p>Environment Agency action has resulted in 48 prosecutions against water companies in the last six years, securing fines of £35 million. £10.4 million has also been donated to environmental and wildlife trusts organisations in the same period through enforcement undertakings, a voluntary agreement which will include a donation to environmental charities to restore any harm done. The Environment Agency will continue to take enforcement action against water companies which fail to uphold the law or cause serious environmental harm.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 26/04/2021 13:44:19 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1315166

	registered interest
	date	17/05/2021
	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	Pets: Registration
	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 plans his Department has to (a) ensure that the running of pet registration databases is fully accountable to pet owners and (b) create a Government-run pet registration database.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	2465
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2021 answer text <p>Under the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015, it is compulsory for owners to microchip their dogs and their details must be recorded on a compliant database. The Regulations set out conditions which microchip databases must meet to be compliant. There are 16 compliant microchip databases, which are listed on gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently carrying out a post-implementation review of the Regulations, which will be published later this year. It will consider how the current database system is working in practice and will identify whether improvements are required.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 20/05/2021 15:35:22 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1314006

	registered interest
	date	12/05/2021
	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: 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 plans his Department has to increase animal welfare standards for the pig farming industry.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	891
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government shares the public's high regard for animal welfare. As referenced in the recently published Action Plan for Animal Welfare we are actively exploring options for strengthening the UK system moving forward and are currently examining the evidence around the use of cages for farm animals.</p><p>We introduced a new pig welfare code of practice, which came into force in March last year, and this provides guidance to keepers and farmers on legal requirements and encourages high standards of husbandry. The pig code states that the aim is for farrowing crates to no longer be necessary and for any new system to protect the welfare of the sow, as well as her piglets. We are continuing to discuss and work with the industry on this issue.</p><p>We are co-designing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway with industry, to promote the production of healthier, higher-welfare animals at a level beyond compliance with current regulations, underpinning our high international reputation for health and welfare and future increases to regulatory standards.</p><p>We are committed to maintaining our position as world leaders in animal welfare and want to improve and build upon that record, working in partnership with farmers to support healthier, higher welfare animals.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/05/2021 13:42:24 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1316880

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2021
	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: 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 the steps the Government is taking to implement the ban on ear cropping dogs in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	4718
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/05/2021 answer text <p>Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is currently an offence in England and Wales to carry out a non-exempted mutilation e.g. where it is not carried out for medical purposes, including the cropping of a dog’s ears. The procedure is considered unnecessary and compromises the animal’s welfare. Once the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 comes into force on the 29 June 2021, anyone convicted of such an offence faces being sent to prison for up to five years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.</p><p> </p><p>This strengthened penalty sends a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated and will enable our courts to take a firmer approach to cases of illegally cropping a dog’s ears and other forms of cruelty such as dog fighting, abuse of puppies and kittens, or gross neglect of farm animals.</p><p> </p><p>On 12 May 2021 the Government published its Action Plan for Animal Welfare. This is a wide-reaching and ambitious plan to set out our current and future work on animal welfare. The Government has a manifesto commitment to crack down on puppy smuggling and one of our key reforms in the plan is to end the abhorrent, cruel practice of puppy smuggling and low-welfare pet imports. We are planning to bring in powers that will allow us to prohibit the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs into Great Britain that have been subject to low welfare practices, such as ear cropping, in line with our domestic legislation on these practices.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 28/05/2021 13:23:05 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana