Tag: Kerry McCarthy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of livestock-associated MRSA in live breeder pigs and meat products imported from (a) Denmark and (b) other European countries; what proportion of such imports are voluntarily tested for livestock-associated MRSA; and what analysis her Department has undertaken of the costs and benefits of making it mandatory to test such imports for MRSA.

George Eustice

Livestock associated meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) is not a notifiable organism. There is no mandatory requirement to test imports of live breeding pigs or pig meat for the presence of LA-MRSA.

The National Pig Association recommends in its Import Protocol that imported pigs be screened for the presence of MRSA. Such testing is done on a voluntary and private basis.

Any controls or testing introduced for an organism must be proportionate to the risk posed by it. Current advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Public Health England (PHE) is that LA-MRSA poses a low risk to human health.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s priorities are for the Clean Growth Committee; what role she will have on that committee; and whether that committee will consider her Department’s air quality consultation.

Rory Stewart

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chairs an inter-Ministerial group on Clean Growth, which considers issues relating to air quality and decarbonisation where these have a cross-Departmental aspect. Its members include Ministers and officials from the relevant Departments, including Defra, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of levels of implementation of the greening requirements of the Basic Payment Scheme and its effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions and delivering improvements for pollinators and other wildlife in the farmed landscape.

George Eustice

We are in the final stages of processing 2015 BPS claims and making payments so it is too early to make an assessment of Greening implementation. However, an ex-ante assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of Greening in England, based on Defra’s Farm Business Survey, was published in the evidence annex to the Explanatory Memorandum which accompanied the Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 3259.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of Bovine TB there have been in Somerset in each of the last four years.

George Eustice

The latest National Statistics on the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in Cattle in Great Britain were published on 10 February 2016. These include detailed statistics at county level as at the end of November 2015 and can be found on GOV.UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s Single departmental plan: 2015 to 2020, published in February 2016, what changes are expected in exposure to (a) nitrogen dioxide and (b) PM2.5 by 2017.

Rory Stewart

In December last year Defra published new plans setting out how the UK Government intends to improve air quality and meet the requirements of the ambient air quality Directive for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the shortest possible time. Our ambition, as set out in the plans, is for the UK to have some of the very best air quality in the world. Improving air quality in our towns and cities will reduce exposure for a large number of people and have a positive impact in reducing adverse health effects.

For all UK zones we assess compliance annually for a range of pollutants covered by European air quality directives, including PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide. All limit values, other than those for NO2, are currently met. The results are published in the annual Air Pollution in the UK compliance reports, which are made available on the UK-Air website: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the updated farm animal welfare codes; how (a) much funding and (b) many staff her Department will provide for the update of those codes; and what research her Department plans to undertake related to the update of those codes.

George Eustice

We have the highest standards of animal welfare in the world, and we will be retaining the framework that upholds them. Defra will continue to work with industry to ensure farmers have the guidance they need to help them comply with legislation, and we will consult as and when updates are needed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which categories of recipients of grants awarded by her Department will be covered by the new anti-lobbying clause in Government grant agreements.

George Eustice

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs intends to await further guidance from the Cabinet Office with regards to the implementation of the grants clause following its review of representations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her plans are for assessing the effect of badger culling on the spread of bovine TB among cattle; and who she plans to undertake that assessment.

George Eustice

The Animal and Plant Health Agency continues to assess the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in areas where badger control is licensed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish her Department’s 25 year plan on food and farming.

George Eustice

Work on the 25 Year Food and Farming Plan is currently on hold following the result of the EU Referendum. We now have an opportunity to consider our long term vision for food and farming outside of the EU. We look forward to continuing to work with a wide range of interests to develop that vision and to work together to deliver it.

It remains essential that the UK has a thriving food and farming industry with high animal welfare and environmental standards, access to international markets and a long term commitment to boosting productivity through innovation and skills. We are now focused on taking forward the actions that support these objectives, and continuing to develop our long term vision, in a different context.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to undertake a national monitoring survey of the pig population for the presence of MRSA.

George Eustice

A UK-wide baseline survey to look for the presence of livestock associated meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in UK pigs was performed in 2008 in line with European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) protocols. At that point, none of the farms tested were found to be positive for MRSA. Since then, the organism has been detected in livestock in the UK. Current advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Public Health England (PHE) is that LA-MRSA poses a low risk to human health.

The people that are most likely to become colonised by LA-MRSA are those who work with livestock. Defra is therefore undertaking a study with Public Health England (PHE) to investigate the occurrence of LA-MRSA in veterinarians and livestock workers. The results of this study will be used to inform the need for future surveillance.