Every parliamentary written question tabled by Sarah Champion this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 41–60 of 61 · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending food labelling legislation so that sourcing information of ingredients is required on pre-packed food and drink produ
The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mis...
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October to Question 6253 on Marine Protected Areas: Fisheries, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of continued bottom trawl fishing in par
The Marine Protected Areas Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2023, which came into force on 22 March 2024, prohibited the use of bottom-towed gear over the reef habitats of North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef Marine Protected Area. The Marine Managemen...
Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the use of electronic shock collars in dog training.
The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation and will bring forward plans in due course. Ministers will be considering available evidence around the use of hand-controlled e-collars and their effects on the...
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6253 on Marine Protected Areas: Fisheries, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to allow bottom tra
The Marine Protected Areas Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2023, which came into force on 22 March 2024, prohibited the use of bottom-towed gear over the rock and reef habitats of Farnes East Marine Protected Area. The Marine Management Organisation has ...
Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential (a) impact of inflation on thresholds for qualification as a large business under Extended Producer Responsibility and (b) merits of
The thresholds for qualification under Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility remain in line with those set out in the Packaging Waste Regulations 2007 which sets the threshold for businesses handling at least 50 tonnes of packaging materials and with...
Food and Rural Affairs, how many culled badger carcasses have tested positive for TB since 2013; what plans his Department has for the number of badgers to be culled up to January 2026; and of those how many
On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work on a comprehensive new strategy for England, to drive down bovine TB rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this parliament. This will be undertaken in c...
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2024 to Question 4722 on Fisheries, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) adopting and (b) implementing the Global Charter
The UK Government welcomes the broad principles set out in the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency and sees considerable merit in its objective of improving transparency and accountability in global fisheries governance and management. The UK alread...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the forthcoming Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on the (a) glass, (b) aluminium and (c) plastic packaging sectors.
Under the previous Government, the 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) impact assessment made an assessment of the impact of introducing the scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment covered glass, aluminium, ...
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 4529 on Marine Protected Areas, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of bottom trawl fishing on his nature conser
Fisheries regulators make detailed assessments of the impact of all fishing activities on the protected species and habitats in our Marine Protected Areas and develop byelaws to restrict fishing when it has been assessed as damaging. These site-by-site as...
Food and Rural Affairs, when he last had discussions with the (a) Kennel Club, (b) RSPCA, (c) Dogs Trust and (d) Battersea Cats and Dogs Home on the use of electric shock collars to train pet dogs.
No formal discussions have taken place with the organisations listed.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to end the use of snare traps by 1st January 2025.
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of snare...
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (a) domestically and (b) internationally.
Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a significant threat to ocean ecosystems, coastal communities and global food supplies which undermines fisheries conservation and management measures. The UK Government holds key responsibilities under...
Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the next phase of the consultation on restricting bottom trawling in offshore marine protected areas (MPAs); and whether he plans to include an option for bott
It is essential to manage bottom trawling in our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) appropriately due to the significant damage it can have on protected seabed habitats. The department is considering next steps in the context of our domestic and international ...
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 12 August 2024 to Questions 1263 and 1675, what the most recent advice is that his Department has received from expert advisers on ending licenses for badger culling that have already been issued.
On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work to refresh the Bovine TB strategy for England, to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament and drive down disease to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods. This will be undertaken in co-design with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists, ensuring a refreshed strategy continues to be led by the best scientific and epidemiological evidence and advice. As part of this announcement, existing cull licences will be honoured to ensure clarity for farmers involved in these culls whilst new measures can be rolled out and take effect. This follows previous advice that the gap between the end of one form of badger disease control and the successful deployment of another, should be as narrow as possible to bank the maximum disease control benefits. Further details can be found on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-badger-cull-with-new-tb-eradication-strategy.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2024 to Question 957 on Animal Welfare, what his planned timetable is for banning the use of snare traps.
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of snare traps. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course
Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) horses and (b) ponies smuggled from the United Kingdom in each of last five years.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) defines a smuggled animal as one that is illegally exported. This means the animal is one that is not travelling on appropriate paperwork, has not been declared and/or is concealed. By its very nature, robust data on the numbers of horses and ponies illegally smuggled out of the UK in the last five years is not readily available. APHA only holds data for the period September 2023 to date for APHA Dover. In that period the APHA Dover team inspected 328 horses/ponies being exported (this includes transits from Ireland). 102 of those were found to be non-compliant. The non-compliance figure relates to Welfare in Transport and the Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations. 10 horses/ponies did not have the required export health certification.
Food and Rural Affairs; whether he plans to continue with the cull of badgers in Derbyshire; and for what reason 1,675 badgers were to be culled.
The Government has committed to ending badger culling by the next General Election. In contrast, in the past decade over 230,000 badgers were culled. On 30 August, Defra announced that we will be working on a comprehensive new TB eradication strategy to end the badger cull and drive down bovine TB rates to protect farmers’ livelihoods. Badger culling is licensed under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease. The figure quoted in the question refers to the maximum number of badgers to be culled under supplementary badger control licences in Derbyshire. In previous years, the total number of badgers culled has been closer to the minimum, which this year is set at 425, rather than the maximum.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is his policy to end licenses for badger culling that have already been issued.
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply I gave to PQ 1263.
Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will produce an animal protection strategy.
The welfare of animals is currently protected by a suite of legislation including the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The Government has committed to introducing the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in their manifesto, the Government intends to ban trail hunting and the import of hunting trophies, to end puppy smuggling and farming and to stop the use of snare traps. Ministers are considering the most effective way to deliver these commitments and will set out next steps in due course.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to ban the use of farrowing crates for pigs.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 July 2024 to the hon. Member for Battersea, PQ UIN 414.