Tag: Lord Patten

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of damage caused to the gardens of urban and rural householders by badgers in England.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Defra is not aware of any studies that quantify the extent of garden damage by badgers. Where serious damage is, or is likely to be, caused by badgers or their setts, there is provision within the legislation for action to be taken under licence. Garden damage due to foraging alone is not normally considered sufficiently serious to warrant the issue of a licence.

Natural England receives around 800 licence applications per year to interfere with badger setts. Of these, just over 50% relate to damage caused by badgers but not all involve residential properties or gardens. With regard to gardens, the usual action is to exclude badgers from the sett and proof the area against further damage. There is a presumption against licensing trapping and relocating badgers on disease and animal welfare grounds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 29 April (HL7747), whether the regulations regarding rights of way provisions that will be subject to affirmative resolution will also be subject to any further public consultation.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The changes to the public path order regime that the Government is introducing were part of a full public consultation carried out in May 2012. We are now implementing those changes through amendments to the Local Authorities (Recovery of Costs for Public Path Orders) Regulations 1993. We are consulting further with both the Stakeholder Working Group and local authorities on the detail of the amendments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the implications for inward investment in Turkey by UK companies and financial institutions of the attempted coup of 15 July.

Lord Price

The attempted coup of 15 July came as a surprise to everyone including UK investors in Turkey. The democratically elected government remains in power. Its policies, relating to international investors, remain the same or have been improved, with the aim of encouraging more foreign direct investment. UK investors were quick to confirm their intention to maintain or enhance their investments. We have consulted widely with the UK investor community, their message is clear; they are in Turkey for the long term and do not believe the events of 15 July have altered the economic fundamentals or the business case for continuing to invest in the market.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the freedom of Christian worship by British citizens visiting the Maldives.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Maldives is an Islamic country. Under its laws public observance of any religion other than Islam is prohibited. We state this in our Travel Advice and advise UK tourists to respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 8 January (HL4766), what is their assessment of the adequacy of railway links between London and South-West England.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The National Infrastructure Commission is not currently undertaking work on railway links between London and South West England.

Network Rail assessed the adequacy of the rail links between London and the South West as part of the rail industry’s Long Term Planning Process. The Western & Wessex Route Studies form part of this process and develop options for future services and for investment in the rail network up to 2043.

The options set out in the Route Studies are based on a regional and route based interpretation of the outputs and demand forecasts from previous market studies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the trend in the size of the hedgehog population in England since 2000; and what is the reason for that trend.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The People’s Trust for Endangered Species’ State of Britain’s Hedgehogs Report 2015 estimated a population of 1.55 million hedgehogs in England, Wales and Scotland in the 1990s. Since 2000, rural populations are thought to have declined by at least a half and urban populations by up to a third. The current population is estimated at around 1 million.

The reasons for their decline are complex and include a number of factors including intensive agricultural practices (including loss of hedgerows), use of pesticides reducing availability of food, roads, a lack of available shelter in urban areas and restriction of movement and badgers which predate on hedgehogs and compete for their food.

The Government supports efforts to encourage local communities to work together in supporting the hedgehog such as making our gardens more hedgehog friendly and more welcoming to wildlife in general.

Working with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species the Government has recently published advice for homeowners in the form of five simple steps to make gardens more hedgehog friendly, from letting grassy areas grow wild to providing food and shelter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the effect on bovine health in Exmoor of the National Trust’s advice to their tenant farmers not to participate in badger culls.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Alongside strengthening cattle testing and movement controls and improving biosecurity on farm and when trading, licensed badger control in areas where bovine TB is rife, like Exmoor, is an essential part of the Government’s 25-year strategy to eradicate the disease in England.

Badger control licence applications from groups of local farmers and landowners are assessed against criteria that include the area of accessible land. Provided that enough land is accessible to achieve an effective badger population reduction across the wider area, Natural England can issue a licence. Thus, even if some local landowners do not participate, long term disease reduction benefits can still be realised across the wider area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 4 July (HL761), by what date they expect the draft regulations seeking to amend the Local Authorities (Recovery of Costs for Public Path Orders) Regulations 1993 to be laid before Parliament.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

I am unable to confirm a precise date at present but I expect to publish the draft regulations later in the session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the freedom of Christian worship afforded to British citizens visiting Turkey.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

It is our understanding that British citizens are not hindered from Christian worship in Turkey. As stated in the EU Commission’s Annual Progress Report on Turkey released on 10 November, freedom of worship continues to be generally respected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent deaths of Kurdish men and youths in Van and other parts of south-east Turkey since 1 January; and whether they have made representations to the government of Turkey about that matter.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey, including Van, is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised the need to respect human rights and the importance of avoiding civilian casualties to the Government of Turkey.