Tag: Kerry McCarthy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the merits of public grant funded research on the environment, food and farming.

George Eustice

Evidence from assessments of the impact of research undertaken by Research Councils and through the 2014 Research Excellence Framework strongly indicates that research (which may be funded from a range of sources) has many benefits in helping to achieve positive outcomes for the environment and for food and farming. Defra has not however, undertaken any systematic evaluation of the merits of public grant funded research in these areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many gamma interferon tests for bovine TB were conducted in the (a) high risk area, (b) low risk area and (c) edge area of England in each year between 2009 and 2015.

George Eustice

This information is publicly available on the GOV.UK website. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-testing-in-cattle.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to ensure that UK fisheries are managed at or below maximum sustainable yield by 2020; what steps she plans to take to maintain a sustainable fisheries policy after the UK leaves the EU; and if she will take steps to work with European partners to support sustainable fishing after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice

Exit from the European Union presents us with an opportunity to improve the way waters in the United Kingdom’s Exclusive Economic Zone are managed. No decisions have yet been taken, although the government remains committed to sustainable fisheries and the discard ban, as set out in its manifesto commitments, and will promote international cooperation in the management of shared stocks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Attorney General, how many people were (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of offences under the Deer Act 1991 in 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of people who have been charged with, and prosecuted for, offences brought by way of the Deer Act 1991. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Although it is not possible to identify the number of people charged with particular offences, records are held showing the overall number of offences in which a prosecution commenced in the magistrates’ courts. The table below shows the number of offences, rather than defendants, charged by way of the Deer Act 1991 during 2015. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.

2015
Deer Act 1991	20
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which of her Department’s properties will be owned and managed by the Government Property Unit; what the annual rent will be; and what the estimated annual cost is of the services the Government Property Unit will provide to her Department.

George Eustice

Defra is fully engaged with the development of the New Property Model for government property. The Property Model is being designed by the Government Property Unit and Departments are still to discuss the detail of the transfer of property into the new government property vehicle, the level of property cost recharges and any management cost involved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20502, if she will make it her policy to update the Veterinary Medicine Regulations and the Summary of Product Characteristics of antibiotic products in order to end the preventative administration of antibiotics where no disease has been diagnosed in any of the animals in the group being to treated.

George Eustice

The Government will consider the need to revise the Veterinary Medicines regulation after the conclusion of the current review of the EU legislative framework on veterinary medicines and medicated feedingstuffs.

In the meantime the Government has reissued guidance on the responsible use of animal medicines on the farm to emphasise that we do not support the routine preventative use of antibiotics, or the use of antibiotics to compensate for poor animal husbandry.

In the UK, antibiotic veterinary medicines are only available through a prescription from a veterinary surgeon, who in turn can only prescribe to animals under their care following a clinical assessment. Using antibiotics responsibly is a requirement of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Code of Professional Conduct for Vets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will introduce post-mortem TB testing of badgers culled as part of the Government’s bovine TB strategy.

George Eustice

Badgers culled under licence have not been routinely tested for tuberculosis (TB), since previous testing between 1998 and 2005 via the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) and Road Traffic Accident surveys provided evidence of the typical prevalence of TB in badgers in areas of high incidence of TB in cattle. TB was found in around one third of all badgers in these areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her (a) ministerial colleagues and (b) the European Commission on the potential effects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on (i) animal welfare standards, (ii) environmental protection and (iii) food standards.

George Eustice

The Secretary of State has regular discussions on a range of trade matters with Ministerial colleagues.

BIS Ministers lead UK engagement on TTIP supported by Defra on issues including animal welfare standards, environmental protection and food standards. The Food Standards Agency considers issues around food safety. These subjects were considered during Cabinet agreement of the UK’s priorities for TTIP. I have held discussions about TTIP with the European Commission and other Member States at Council meetings.

Ministerial colleagues and I addressed environmental protection issues in detail in the Government’s written evidence to the recent House of Common’s Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into TTIP.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on (a) the National Adaptation Programme and (b) businesses and organisations’ climate change resilience of the withdrawal of the Climate Ready Support Service.

Rory Stewart

The first National Adaptation Programme sets out more than 370 actions to help the UK better prepare for climate change – we continue to deliver on these actions and make sure adaptation is integrated across government policy making. We will carefully review how we work with business and industry as part of the preparations for the next National Adaptation Programme report which is due around 2018.

The Environment Agency continues to play an important role in helping businesses adapt to climate change, in particular as part of its core role on flooding, coastal risks, water management, freshwater habitats, and as a statutory adviser in the land-use planning system. In addition, the Environment Agency will continue to provide advice to businesses and other organisations on using the UK climate projections and it will continue to contribute to a range of stakeholder groups. Over 70 online tools developed by the Climate Ready Support Service are still available for use by businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate of real world diesel emissions for Euro 6 vehicles, relative to the laboratory test limit, was used in the evidential basis supporting her Department’s conclusion that eight air quality zones would not comply with Nitrogen Dioxide limits by 2020 if no action is taken.

Rory Stewart

The modelling used for the air quality plan was based on the best available data and uses the latest COPERT (Computer Programme to Calculate Emissions from Road Transport) (4v11) factors to calculate emissions from diesel cars.

These COPERT factors reflect that there is a difference between laboratory testing of vehicle emissions and real world emissions. They assume Euro 6 diesel cars are, on average, emitting 2.8 times the level of emissions allowed for the Euro 6 standard.

In May, the Government will present the results of its vehicle testing programme (www.gov.uk/government/publications/vehicle-emissions-testing-programme-conclusions) to European Research for Mobile Emission Sources (ERMES), the body responsible for collating vehicle emission data, to inform its updated emissions factors later this year. This will ensure that EU-wide emission factors continue to focus on the latest data updated on the basis of real world testing.