Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the risks to animal and public health posed by individuals calling themselves veterinary nurses, despite not being registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons; and what plans they have to make "veterinary nurse" a protected title reserved for those who are properly qualified and regulated.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Defra are aware of concerns over people without suitable qualifications calling themselves veterinary nurses. There are over 19,000 veterinary nurses registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons with appropriate qualifications, although no assessment has been made about the impact of unqualified persons using this title. The protection of the tile “veterinary nurse” is being considered along with other proposals for veterinary legislative reform.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to discourage the promotion of ear-cropped dogs on social media.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The practice of non-exempted mutilations such as cropping dogs' ears is abhorrent and has rightly been banned in the UK for 15 years.
This Government is committed to eradicating the illegal cropping of dogs ears, not just addressing the practice's promotion on social media. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is already an offence in England and Wales to carry out a non-exempted mutilation e.g. where it is not carried out for medical purposes, including the cropping of a dog's ears. Now that The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 has come into force, anyone convicted of such an offence, faces being sent to prison for up to 5 years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was reintroduced to the House of Commons in May. The Bill includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. This power will allow us to prioritise the welfare of dogs by prohibiting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs into Great Britain that have been subject to low welfare practices, such as ear cropping or tail docking, in line with our domestic legislation on these practices.
In August 2021, HM Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take onboard the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy.
The department maintains a national communications campaign (Petfished) to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets. This includes providing clear signposting on where responsible breeders and rehoming centres can be found and encouraging prospective buyers to research the seller thoroughly before they visit and decide to purchase. The campaign provides a list of red flags for buyers to look out for when searching for a pet online. More information can be found here: https://getyourpetsafely.campaign.gov.uk/.
We have also endorsed The Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) which was created to combat growing concerns about the irresponsible advertising of pets for sale, rehoming and exchange and backed a set of Minimum Standards that PAAG developed which several of the UK's largest classified websites have agreed to meet.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to close the loophole in existing legislation that allows dogs with cropped ears to be imported into the UK.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The practice of non-exempted mutilations such as cropping dogs' ears is abhorrent and has rightly been banned in the UK for 15 years.
This Government is committed to eradicating the illegal cropping of dogs ears, not just addressing the practice's promotion on social media. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is already an offence in England and Wales to carry out a non-exempted mutilation e.g. where it is not carried out for medical purposes, including the cropping of a dog's ears. Now that The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 has come into force, anyone convicted of such an offence, faces being sent to prison for up to 5 years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was reintroduced to the House of Commons in May. The Bill includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. This power will allow us to prioritise the welfare of dogs by prohibiting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs into Great Britain that have been subject to low welfare practices, such as ear cropping or tail docking, in line with our domestic legislation on these practices.
In August 2021, HM Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take onboard the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy.
The department maintains a national communications campaign (Petfished) to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets. This includes providing clear signposting on where responsible breeders and rehoming centres can be found and encouraging prospective buyers to research the seller thoroughly before they visit and decide to purchase. The campaign provides a list of red flags for buyers to look out for when searching for a pet online. More information can be found here: https://getyourpetsafely.campaign.gov.uk/.
We have also endorsed The Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) which was created to combat growing concerns about the irresponsible advertising of pets for sale, rehoming and exchange and backed a set of Minimum Standards that PAAG developed which several of the UK's largest classified websites have agreed to meet.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of the practice of cropping dogs' ears.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The practice of non-exempted mutilations such as cropping dogs' ears is abhorrent and has rightly been banned in the UK for 15 years.
This Government is committed to eradicating the illegal cropping of dogs ears, not just addressing the practice's promotion on social media. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is already an offence in England and Wales to carry out a non-exempted mutilation e.g. where it is not carried out for medical purposes, including the cropping of a dog's ears. Now that The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 has come into force, anyone convicted of such an offence, faces being sent to prison for up to 5 years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was reintroduced to the House of Commons in May. The Bill includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. This power will allow us to prioritise the welfare of dogs by prohibiting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs into Great Britain that have been subject to low welfare practices, such as ear cropping or tail docking, in line with our domestic legislation on these practices.
In August 2021, HM Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take onboard the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy.
The department maintains a national communications campaign (Petfished) to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets. This includes providing clear signposting on where responsible breeders and rehoming centres can be found and encouraging prospective buyers to research the seller thoroughly before they visit and decide to purchase. The campaign provides a list of red flags for buyers to look out for when searching for a pet online. More information can be found here: https://getyourpetsafely.campaign.gov.uk/.
We have also endorsed The Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) which was created to combat growing concerns about the irresponsible advertising of pets for sale, rehoming and exchange and backed a set of Minimum Standards that PAAG developed which several of the UK's largest classified websites have agreed to meet.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to create a Minister for Hydrogen.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My Rt Hon. Friend Minister Hands clearly has hydrogen within his portfolio. The appointment of Ministers is a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase the role of hydrogen technology in the UK’s export strategy.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Hydrogen Strategy makes clear the government wants to position UK companies at the forefront of the growing global hydrogen market, and analysis suggests that around a quarter of new UK jobs in the hydrogen sector by 2030 could be driven by exports. UK companies are already leading the way by exporting fuel cell and electrolyser technologies and engineering services, and we want to expand on this to capture economic benefits. BEIS, DIT, UK Export Finance and others are working to identify high value opportunities for UK companies and to promote them globally. We will set out more on our approach in a Hydrogen Sector Development Action Plan in 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate the development of a hydrogen export market in the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Hydrogen Strategy makes clear the government wants to position UK companies at the forefront of the growing global hydrogen market, and analysis suggests that around a quarter of new UK jobs in the hydrogen sector by 2030 could be driven by exports. UK companies are already leading the way by exporting fuel cell and electrolyser technologies and engineering services, and we want to expand on this to capture economic benefits. BEIS, DIT, UK Export Finance and others are working to identify high value opportunities for UK companies and to promote them globally. We will set out more on our approach in a Hydrogen Sector Development Action Plan in 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to finalise business models for hydrogen; and when any such business models will be published.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has consulted on a business model to provide revenue support needed to stimulate investment in hydrogen projects. The Government is currently analysing stakeholder responses to the consultation and aims to publish a response in the first quarter of 2022 with a view to finalising the business model later in the year.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Economic Assessment of Selected House of Lords Gambling Reforms, prepared by NERA Economic Consulting for the Peers for Gambling Reform and published on 26 May.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
We are considering the report by NERA Economic Consulting carefully, along with the large amount of evidence we have received in connection with our Review. We aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year, setting out our conclusions and next steps for the Gambling Act Review.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to strip the Gambling Commission of its power to impose affordability checks on vulnerable consumers.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Gambling Commission received over 13,000 responses to its consultation and call for evidence on Remote Customer Interaction (including on issues to do with affordability) and has published an interim update on its website outlining next steps. It intends to publish a full report this summer.
The government remains in close contact with the Commission as its work progresses and the Commission is sharing key evidence with the Department on affordability and other topics where it could be relevant to our Review of the Gambling Act 2005. We are considering all evidence submitted to our Review, and any proposed changes will be led by that evidence.