Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215057501
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 64
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This report had endorsed draft laws to extend dangerous dogs offences to attacks on private property and on assistance dogs. But the MPs criticise the Government for failing to bring in wider measures, including Dog Control Notices, to tackle out-of-control dogs. MPs also endorse the proposed amendment to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 making attacks on private land the same as attacks on public land. The current law makes it impossible to bring criminal charges against an owner whose dog attacks someone in a private place, such as a home. The Committee welcomed the proposal to enable action to be taken regardless of where a dog attack happens. The Committee agree with the Government that the protection from prosecution should apply only when an attack takes place on a trespasser in the house, not in a surrounding area such as the garden or drive. However, measures taken by the owner to minimise the likelihood of their dog acting aggressively toward someone unexpectedly in such places should be taken into account by enforcement agencies and the courts. MPs fully support the measures to extend offences to those committed against an assistance dog, such as a guide dog, in the same way as if the attack were on a person. This reflects the significant consequences such attacks have on the daily lives of people who rely on assistance dogs. The Committee recommends that such offences should be extended to apply to any attack which injures a protected animal, such as a horse or livestock.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 021507288X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 44
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Urgent action is required to establish the numbers of primates kept in captivity by private individuals across the UK and to improve their welfare. Little is known about the types and numbers of primates being kept or traded by private individuals in the UK and about the manner in which they are being kept. A ban is not ruled out, but such a step must be based on solid evidence and cannot be imposed before every opportunity to improve the operation of our existing framework has been exhausted. Defra should commission independent research to establish the extent of the problems in this area and to report with a plan of action within six months of receiving the research results. The Government must ensure that standards for primates kept in private match those required in zoos. The quality of care that these animals enjoy should be the same whether they are kept in a circus, a pet shop, a private home or a zoo. If the Committee's suggested changes prove insufficient and the evidence for doing so proves compelling, then a ban on the trade and keeping of privately kept primates should remain an option for the future. The report also calls for the Government to: ensure that legislation governing pet sales is fit for the internet age; boost public awareness of existing regulatory controls and guidance; increase the utility and efficacy of the Primate Code; expedite the publication of guidance to local authorities on the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215058829
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 122
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The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee warns that vaccination against bovine TB is expensive, offers no guarantee of protection and will provide little benefit in the immediate future. More than £58 million has been invested in vaccine research and development since 1994. Deployment of the injectable badger vaccine will cost an estimated £2,000-£4,000 per km2. The cattle vaccine is expected to cost £5-6 per dose and the DIVA test (which differentiates between infected and vaccinated cattle) costs £25. Small-scale studies to test the efficacy of the vaccine in cattle overseas have shown the protective effect to be between 56-68%, a level of protection that won't immediately solve the problems of bovine TB in the cattle industry. The UK needs more reliable skin tests than the current one that could miss one in four infected cows. An injectable BCG vaccine for badgers is now available but it does not confer complete protection and has no discernible effect on animals already infected with TB. An oral baited vaccine that can be laid at setts is likely to be cheaper and more practical, but development and deployment of it will take several years to resolve. A variety of ongoing research projects could make a real difference to the eradication of bovine TB in the United Kingdom. These include: PCR testing to determine infected badger setts, a new type of test to identify bovine TB in cattle after slaughter, and work on a vaccine that does not interfere with the skin test.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215073010
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 36
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The Government must not neglect maintenance of flood defences and watercourses if homes, businesses and farmland are to gain better protection against future flooding risk, the EFRA Committee warns in this report of an inquiry triggered by the recent winter floods. The Committee calls for fully funded plans to address the current backlog of dredging and watercourse maintenance as well as to maintain the growing numbers of man-made flood defences. The devolution of maintenance activity to internal drainage boards and to local landowners, wherever possible, is supported. The Committee also urges the Government to address the confusion over maintenance responsibilities through a widespread education campaign. It is essential that Environment Agency funding cuts do not lead to unintended consequences where funding is redirected to one operational area to the detriment of another. The report also calls for a reassurance from Defra that frontline flood jobs at the Environment Agency will not be cut. The Committee identifies the current split between capital and revenue budgets as a major barrier to targeting funding according to local priorities, and can see no reason why the Government cannot move to a total expenditure approach for flood funding to allow more flexibility to spend in the most effective way.
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215078322
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 44
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The Government must act to increase recycling rates across England by 2020. It also needs to be ensured that only genuinely residual waste is sent to energy-from-waste plants and to do more to encourage the use of heat outputs from such facilities to improve the overall energy efficiency of this waste management method. Defra 'stepped back' from waste management at a time when we need both a more ambitious approach to waste management and stronger Government leadership to drive up static recycling rates in England and make better use of energy recovery options such as local heating for homes. Ministers must now show that waste policy remains an important priority. On a household level there is too much confusion about what can or can't be recycled - and very little confidence in the process. Communication must improve and be tailored to local circumstances by local authorities, but Defra should provide support at a national level - particularly in relation to common issues and problems. The Committee calls for clear guidance from Defra on how much waste treatment capacity is needed in England to gain an optimal balance between the export of refuse-derived fuel and local treatment. MPs support the use of anaerobic digestion for processing waste, but not for use with purpose-grown crops. More work is also needed to address the issues surrounding separate food waste collections. MPs also call on the Government take action to curb the frequent occurrence of fires at waste management sites
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215066008
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40
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The Committee has examined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) annual report and accounts for 2012-13 (HC 40, session 2013-14, ISBN 9780102985672). Defra is one of the smallest of Government Departments but it has faced among the most substantial budget cuts, which are set to continue up to 2016. Defra relies on a large number of arms length bodies to deliver many significant areas of policy. Ministers must clarify how further budgets cuts of over £300 million over the coming 2 years will impact on the funding provided to these agencies and the ability of the Department to respond to emergencies, exemplified by the flooding over Christmas and the New Year. Among the most significant challenges facing the Department in the next 12 months is implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy, and there are risks that the introduction of a new digital system for delivering payments to farms will cause problems for those farmers who do not have access to rural broadband. The Committee found that the results of the Defra staff survey revealed an increased lack of confidence in the management and leadership of the Department, issues which must be addressed. Further challenges facing Defra in the coming year include policy relating to bovine TB and badger culling, its proposals on biodiversity offsetting, the introduction of plastic bag charging, and examining the role and potential of GM technology in food production.
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081072
Category : Food supply
Languages : en
Pages : 40
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The myriad choices millions of people make every day over what food to buy and from where to buy it shape the nation's food production and supply systems. It is essential to harness these decisions to support the public policy goal of enabling all to access healthy and affordable food. Both supply and demand issues must be managed if a growing world population is to be fed at a time when environmental impacts, including those of climate change, are constraining food production. In this report the Committee make recommendations on managing consumer demand, such as by encouraging the purchase of sustainably sourced products or the most nutritious food in order to help to deliver environmental and health goals.
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215084462
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 41
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Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081064
Category : Dairy products
Languages : en
Pages : 32
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Worldwide pressure on milk prices has resulted from a combination of rising supply and falling demand, partly because of reduced demand from China and a Russian trade ban with the EU. Rapid and wide fluctuations in milk price bring pressure to bear on the UK dairy industry, and farmers have been leaving it in significant numbers in recent years. While there is no single solution to the problems created by these rapid changes in milk prices, it is incumbent on the Government, and Defra in particular, to promote UK dairy produce domestically and in growing export markets. Action to encourage the spread of Producer Organisations, a review of the EU intervention price for milk and clearer regulation on the labelling of dairy products could all assist a struggling industry. The voluntary code of best practice in the dairy industry, introduced after similar price difficulties in 2012, has been adopted by about 85 per cent of dairy producers and welcomed in improving matters as far as it goes. Closer attention is required, however, to the sharpness and frequency of price changes in the dairy market, which affect investment and financial planning. The Groceries Code Adjudicator's role, concerning the relationship between direct suppliers and major retailers, is too restricted to be of assistance to the vast majority of dairy producers, as they are indirect suppliers.
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081307
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 36
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Book Description
Access to broadband can be an unexpectedly emotive and complex subject. Written evidence the Committee has received explains how poor broadband can lead to a range of problems: from reduced access to online learning resources for students, to families being unable to use everyday online services such as BBC iPlayer and rural businesses being powerless to function in an increasingly online marketplace. Overall, poor broadband can produce a feeling of a two-tier society with the ’have and have nots'. This feeling is most apparent in rural communities which by their geographical nature are often the hardest for the infrastructure to reach.The move to an online-only Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) system for payments this year provides a clear example of how online-only services often need to be accessed by those located in geographical areas which are difficult for current broadband infrastructure to reach or for good coverage and speed to be provided. CAP payments offer a prime example of the wider Government policy to make services ’digital-by-default'. This policy has clear ramifications when broadband access is limited or non-existent.
