The number of cattle movements in the UK recorded on the Cattle Tracing System by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) in each year from 2008 to 2016 is shown in the table below:

Year

Cattle Movements

2008

13,445,614

2009

13,194,912

2010

13,654,294

2011

14,570,411

2012

13,810,509

2013

13,736,427

2014

13,742,163

2015

13,783,821

2016

14,084,952

These figures include from April 2010 movements manually entered by BCMS, usually as a result of keeper contact. Where an animal moves off a location and then onto another that is classified in reporting as 2 movements.

Trials have shown that reducing the badger population can help reduce the spread of bovine TB. Tests carried out during the Randomised Badger Culling Trial showed that roughly a third of badgers in the high risk area were infected with TB.

TB cattle controls are the cornerstone of our TB eradication strategy and we continuously look for opportunities to enhance them. In April 2016, we introduced compulsory post-movement testing in the Low Risk Area (LRA) of England to reduce the risk of disease spread from cattle with undisclosed infection.

The table below shows apprenticeship starts in each year since 2010/11. This is based on the number of starts under the Food Manufacture, Agriculture and Horticulture frameworks. The Apprenticeships Levy, being introduced in April, is expected to drive a further increase in apprenticeship numbers.

In the next few years, frameworks are being replaced by employer-led standards. The food and farming industry is developing such standards which will better meet the needs of the industry.

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

Food, farming and agri-tech apprenticeship starts

4,870

7,280

7,180

6,200

5,890

7,160

The annual value of the Pillar 1 budget fluctuates with currency movements but the budget for the 2016 scheme year for the UK was circa £2.7bn. It is too early to calculate the equivalent value for the 2019/2020 scheme year.

The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost

The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, have had no secondees from PwC, Deloitte, Accenture, McKinsey & Co, Ernst and Young or Bain & Company since July 2016.

Information regarding the stated country of origin of dogs entering GB for non-commercial reasons, supplied by the carriers, is presented in Annex A. We are currently working with carriers to ensure accuracy of all information collated.

Details of the country of origin of dogs entering GB for commercial reasons in 2016 can be extracted from the EU TRACES database, and is presented in Annex B.

The maximum penalties for animal welfare offences are kept under regular review. The Sentencing Council has very recently published revised magistrate’s court sentencing guidelines, including those in relation to animal welfare offences, which include dog fighting, with the aim of ensuring that the most serious cases of animal cruelty receive appropriately severe penalties within the available maximum penalty.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons already has a statutory examination for non-EU registrants whose examinations are not automatically recognised by the College. Applicants must reach level 7 of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) before applying to sit this exam. Government is currently reviewing the content of the EU Mutual Recognition Directive.

The 14 civil servants are employed in the following grades.

Grade

Number of staff

Grade 6

3

Grade 7

7

Senior Executive Officer

3

Higher Executive Officer

1

The Government encourages the highest standards of welfare at slaughter. The Government would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter but respects the right of the Jewish and Muslim communities to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.

Official veterinarians (OVs) from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are present in all approved slaughterhouses in England and take a prompt, proportionate and risk based approach to enforcement action when animal welfare breaches are identified.

Defra works closely with the FSA to ensure that the welfare of animals is protected in all slaughterhouses. There is a wide ranging, systemic programme of animal welfare monitoring activity including strengthened verification of compliance through the establishment of welfare assurance teams; a welfare themed audit programme; targeted unannounced inspections; additional checks for non-compliant business operators; and improved education and instruction through an animal welfare publicity campaign in slaughterhouses.

Last month, the Government published its Next Steps document which set out proposals for modernising the licensing of the breeding and selling of dogs in England. The Government proposes that anyone breeding and selling three or more litters of dogs in a twelve month period will need a licence. The majority of responses to our earlier consultation supported this proposal which strikes the right balance between being reasonable to enforce, providing a proportionate response and helping to target regulatory effort on those breeders producing dogs on a commercial basis.

All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

The report on the comparison of the effect of the first two years of badger control in the first two areas is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-incidence-of-tb-in-cattle-in-licensed-badger-control-areas-in-2014-to-2015

Defra does not retain details centrally on the number of work placements in the Department and to identify the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Defra officials will be working with the Department for Exiting the EU to look at future policies for fisheries. We will continue to work closely with relevant industry and other key stakeholders to develop these new arrangements. As part of this work consideration will be given to support provided to the fisheries community.

The UK was allocated €243 million in the current programme for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), with €45 million for enforcement, €52 million for data collection, €19 million for aquaculture and €127 million for other investments. The Government has guaranteed access to these funds up until the point we leave the EU.

The Government has guaranteed that the agricultural sector will receive the same level of funding that it would have received under Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy until the end of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework in 2020. No decisions have yet been taken about how that budget will be managed in the period between the UK leaving the EU and 2020.