Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 24 June 2008
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Air Pollution: Greater London
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what air quality measurements are made across each London borough; and what the results of these measurements were in each of the last three years. [212346]
Jonathan Shaw: 10 sites in London are operated by the London boroughs and are affiliated to the national Automatic Urban and Rural Network. These 10 sites form part of the London Air Quality Network (LAQN), which is managed by the Environmental Research Group at King's College London. Hourly pollutant concentrations are measured and data collected from the individual sites are shown in the following table.
A further five sites in London are owned by DEFRA. Historical data can also be obtained from a further nine sites which closed in 2007 due to a restructuring of the national network. The data can be examined and downloaded from the National Air Quality Information Archive.
| Parameters measured( 1) | Monitoring sites and data |
| (1) Not all pollutants are measured at all sites. (2) not all sites have monitored since 1996. | |
Data for around 80 additional sites operated by the London boroughs in London can be found on the London Air Quality Network Website.
Animal Welfare
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) reports, (b) investigations and (c) prosecutions of offences under the (i) Protection of Badgers Act 1992, (ii) Zoo Licensing Act 1981, (iii) Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, (iv) Pet Animals Act 1951, (v) Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 and (vi) Deer Act 1991 there were in (A) 2006 and (B) 2007. [212410]
Joan Ruddock: Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against in 2006 at magistrates courts under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Pet Animals Act 1951, the Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 and the Deer Act 1991 are set out in the following table. Data for 2007 will be available in autumn 2008. Information on the number of prosecutions under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 is not collected centrally.
Information on the number of reports and investigations carried out under these Acts is not collected centrally.
| Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts under selected wildlife offences( 1) , England and Wales, 2006( 2, 3, 4) | |
| Act | Proceeded against |
| (1) Information on the number of prosecutions under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 is not collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice. (2) These data are on the principal offence basis. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) The data relating to offences under section 1 (Offences relating to birds) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for the Metropolitan and West Midlands police force areas have been excluded from the table, whilst the Ministry of Justice investigate the accuracy of the information. | |
Animal Welfare Act 2006
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. [212360]
Jonathan Shaw: My officials are in frequent contact with key stakeholders and the feedback we have received concerning the effectiveness of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 is very positive. Nevertheless, we would want to defer making any detailed assessment until details of convictions under the Act have been published.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) males and (b) females of each age group were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of an offence under each relevant section of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in 2007. [212362]
Jonathan Shaw: The Animal Welfare Act 2006 came into force on 6 April 2007 in England and 27 March 2007 in Wales.
Court proceedings data being collected by the Ministry of Justice for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) statutory instruments, (b) departmental circulars and (c) other documents he (i) has issued and (ii) plans to
issue in the next 12 months consequential to the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006; and if he will make a statement. [212409]
Jonathan Shaw: The following documents have been made in relation to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the “2006 Act”):
(a) Statutory instruments made by the Secretary of State
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (Commencement Order No1) (England) Order 2007;
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (Commencement Order No2 and Saving and Transitional Provisions) (England) Order 2007;
The Docking of Working Dogs' Tails (England) Regulations 2007;
The Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007;
The Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008;
The Welfare of Animals (Miscellaneous Revocations) (England) Regulations 2007;
The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.
Explanatory Memorandum to the Animal Welfare Act 2006;
Explanatory Memorandum to the Docking of Working Dogs' Tails (England) Regulations 2007;
Explanatory Memorandum to the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007;
Explanatory Memorandum to the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008;
Explanatory Memorandum to the Welfare of Animals (Miscellaneous Revocations) (England) Regulations 2007;
Explanatory Memorandum to the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.
(c) My department is proposing to issue the following SI s and documents in 2009 pertinent to the 2006 Act:
A commencement order allowing s8(3)-(6) of the 2006 Act to come into force (provisions relating to the recording of animal fights); a cat welfare code; a dog welfare code; and an equine welfare code; In addition, it is proposed to issue the following consultation documents in 2009: draft proposals on regulating the welfare of racing greyhounds; a draft gamebird rearing code; a draft code on the private keeping of primates; and draft proposals on the transposition of EU legislation concerning the welfare of meat chickens.
Biofuels: Prices
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research he has commissioned or evaluated into the effect of growing biofuels on food prices. [212257]
Mr. Woolas: The Government-commissioned Gallagher Review is considering the impact of biofuels on food prices. Its findings will be published later this month.
In April 2008, DEFRA published a report which reviewed the existing research on the impact of biofuels on commodity and food prices. It is available on the DEFRA website.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps the Government have taken to assist farmers in protecting their livestock from bovine tuberculosis. [212761]
Jonathan Shaw: Updated advice on husbandry best practice was produced last year by the bovine TB Husbandry Working Group - a partnership of key farming, veterinary and wildlife groups and Government. This free advice suggests some common sense, precautionary measures that farmers can take to help reduce the risk of bovine TB transmission between cattle and between cattle and badgers. We have also produced a CD-Rom for use by vets when giving guidance to farmers about protecting their livestock from the risk of TB.
This is in addition to a range of other cattle-based measures introduced in the last couple of years to tackle bovine TB such as the introduction of zero tolerance of overdue tests; pre-movement tests for cattle moving from high risk herds; and extension of the use of the gamma interferon test. We are also actively pursuing the future use of vaccination of either cattle or wildlife as a long term means of tackling bovine TB alongside current control measures.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps the Government have taken to establish the extent of tuberculosis infection in wild animals; [212762]
(2) what steps the Government plan to take to reduce the number of wild animals infected by tuberculosis. [212763]
Jonathan Shaw: A considerable amount of research has been carried out by DEFRA into the prevalence of TB infection, both in relation to badgers and other wildlife species.
Results from the Randomised Badger Culling Trial show that badgers are the main wildlife reservoir and contribute to bovine TB (bTB) in cattle.
The risk to cattle of infection from wild species other than badgers has been assessed through research carried out by the Central Science Laboratory (CSL). While small numbers of many mammalian species such as rats have been shown to able to be infected with bTB, there is no evidence that they can transmit the infection to other species.
Quantitative risk assessments commissioned by DEFRA demonstrate that the risk of cattle infection from deer is only likely to be significant if the prevalence of TB infection in deer is high.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps the Government have taken to protect the public from wild animals infected with tuberculosis. [212764]
Jonathan Shaw: A number of Government departments (DEFRA, Department of Health, Food Standards Agency, Health Protection Agency, Health and Safety Executive) work together to protect the public from contracting infection caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). The potential risks to public health from exposure to wild animals infected with M. bovis are minimal, therefore no wildlife-specific public health protection measures are necessary. However, advice is available on the HPA website and from local animal health offices if people have concerns.
Climate Change: East of England
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on providing support for (a) dealing with the effects of climate change and (b) flood management in the East of England region; and if he will make a statement. [212943]
Mr. Woolas: DEFRA’s overall policy on climate change adaptation and flood management is the same across all regions of England.
As part of the programme, we are also undertaking a UK wide assessment of the risks due to Climate Change. The risk assessment will employ experts from across a wide range of sectors likely to be impacted by climate change.
We have put in place a world leading resource, UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP), to provide information and tools which can be used by organisations across the public, private and third sector, including local authorities, to help them adapt to both the risks and opportunities of a changing climate.
Coastal Areas: Environment Protection
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made towards developing an adaptation toolkit on sustainable flood and coastal erosion on risk management approaches; and when the toolkit will be introduced. [212658]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have agreed to develop an adaptation toolkit to assist communities in adapting to change where constructing defences is not the most appropriate means of managing flood and coastal erosion risk. Up to £28 million of DEFRA’s comprehensive spending review settlement has been made available to support the adaptation toolkit. Some parts of the toolkit are already in place—for example strengthened planning policy for flood risk areas. Others are forthcoming. The full range of policies will be published in spring 2009.
Cod: Fishing Quotas
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many cod avoidance plans he has negotiated with British fishing vessels; [209587]
(2) what plans he has to make extra days of fishing available to English fishing vessels which agree to a cod avoidance plan (a) in 2008 and (b) in 2009. [209594]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA officials are currently discussing with the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, the two plans thus far submitted by the English fleet. However, I understand there are several more in the pipeline. The number of additional days available for this year for the vessels concerned, will depend on the outcome of those and subsequent discussions.
Scotland is not operating a scheme based on individual vessel plans, but will require all participating vessels to adhere to the same commitments in each separate gear category. Northern Ireland is still considering the nature
of its scheme. No Welsh vessels have to date applied for the kilowatt (kW) day option.
For 2009, the number of days available to the respective fleets will depend on decisions yet to be taken in the context of the review of the cod recovery programme.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |