Tag: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to control the live exports of horses from the UK that are falsely declared to be exported for leisure purposes but where the true intention is for slaughter and human consumption.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government is aware of concerns about horse exports and has been working closely with welfare charities on this issue and in particular on improving intelligence gathering. When reports are received by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) that horses are being exported other than for the declared purpose, or are being inappropriately transported, APHA will investigate and will take appropriate enforcement action. This may include suspending transporters.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to use further interventions to prevent the spread of Koi herpesvirus disease which kills common and ornamental carp.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government recognises the importance of protecting the UK from fish diseases including koi herpesvirus (KHV) disease which can have serious effects on our native fish population, angling waters and aquaculture industry.

We have strong control measures in place to identify and constrain outbreaks of KHV. This includes an annual surveillance programme in fish farms; the prohibition of the movement of live fish from KHV infected sites, both farm and fishery; and, restrictions on angling in affected waters during disease outbreaks. We will continue to apply these control measures robustly to prevent spread of the disease. In addition we support research into KHV transmission routes and will review our options for interventions as new scientific information becomes available.

KHV is most likely transmitted through the movement of live fish and it has also been demonstrated that angling equipment such as keep nets may spread infection. Defra has been working closely with the Angling Trust on the Check, Clean, Dry campaign to support good practice in the angling community, and with the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association to highlight the importance of not releasing pet fish into the environment.

Last year we published the aquatic animal health strategy for England setting out our approach and activities to protect and improve aquatic animal health over the next five years. This includes looking at the use of new technologies to improve disease surveillance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are encouraging supermarkets to abandon strict cosmetic specifications for farm products that result in edible food being wasted.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government, through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), is working with food manufacturers and retailers, including all the major UK supermarkets, to meet targets to reduce food waste from the grocery supply chain under the Courtauld Commitment. Signatories have reported a 7.4% reduction in supply chain waste between 2009-2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

WRAP has worked with supermarkets and consumers to support acceptance and use of ‘imperfect’ fruit and vegetables. Work is also in progress with signatories, trade bodies and redistribution organisations to build a better understanding of the amounts and causes of waste in the supply of food and drink. WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which will build on this progress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 2 February (HL5437), when an announcement will be made about the funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit from April 2016 onwards.

Lord Bates

A decision on funding the National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2016 will be made shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions for food fraud in the form of meat substitution there were in each of the last three years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities are responsible for prosecuting meat species substitution offences. Generally, these prosecutions are taken forward under regulations relating to the labelling and mis-description of food, rather than under fraud legislation. The Food Standards Agency has taken on the task of compiling a register of successful food law prosecutions and is just completing the first year of data collection on local authority food prosecutions. However, it does not hold definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature in the last three years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 20 April (HL7511), and in the light of the outcome of the EU referendum, whether they will now consider bringing forward legislation to ban the routine use on farms of antibiotics classified by the WHO as critically important for treating bacterial infections in humans, rather than waiting until the EU negotiations on the relevant legislation are completed in late 2017.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government does not support the routine preventative use of antibiotics in animals, including those classified as critically important.

We will be restricting the use of the most important critically important antibiotics (CIAs) through measures already underway to remove indications for preventive treatment of groups of livestock from medicines containing the most important CIAs. This will not require legislative change.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average wage increase of agricultural workers since the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on average wage rates of farm workers, via their Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).

The abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board came into effect on 30 September 2013.The table below shows the average (median) hourly pay for farm workers, excluding overtime, for the most recent four years available. The data is compiled through a sample survey and is therefore subject to a level of sampling error.

	2011	2012	2013	2014 (prov)
Farm workers	£7.70	£7.52	£7.76	£7.83

Source: ONS ASHE – Table 14.6a – Hourly pay excluding overtime

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research is taking place on the impact on milk quality of housing cows in large-scale indoor dairy sheds.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

There is no evidence to suggest that increasing the size of herds has any impact on milk quality. Other factors are more relevant such as nutrition and genetics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Flood Resilience Review is considering the findings of London Underground’s flood risk review which identifies 85 stations, tunnels and shafts as at high risk of flooding.

Lord Bridges of Headley

As set out in evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee on 13 April, the National Flood Resilience Review is looking across infrastructure in a number of sectors to identify those assets which the Government thinks need to be more resilient against extreme river or tidal flooding

Separately to the national review, London Underground is in the process of reviewing their own vulnerability to all forms of flooding: this includes river and coastal but also the risk of burst water mains, which can be a much bigger threat in an urban area. This work is primarily for London Underground to agree with Transport for London and the Mayor, but Department for Transport and Cabinet Office officials will stay abreast of the London Underground work to ensure it is coherent with the National Flood Resilience Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with UK supermarkets about the case for supermarkets regularly to check imported products to ensure that those products are properly labelled.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Under the Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 Food business operators are responsible for ensuring that labelling does not mislead the consumer. The rules are enforced by local authorities.

Imported products of animal origin are usually inspected at EU border inspection posts by Port Health Authorities.

As there are well established systems already in place, the Government is not having any specific discussions with UK supermarkets about this issue at this time, but government will continue to monitor this.