Seafish, the UK-wide levy-funded Non-Departmental Public Body, launched the Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS) in January 2016. It is a voluntary vessel-based programme certifying high standards of crew welfare and responsible catching practices on fishing vessels. The RFS does not currently have the capability to audit, or the legal authority to police serious labour and human rights abuses at sea.

The RFS is overseen by an independent Oversight Board, which decided on 14 February 2017 that the health, safety & welfare elements of the standard should be strengthened and that the “crew voice” should be included in the audit methodology. This proposal will be put to the Seafish Board, as the Standard holder, for a decision at its meeting on 7 March.

If a case of modern slavery is reported or suspected at sea, within UK territorial waters, the police will investigate as they would any other criminal offence. The Modern Slavery Act gave law enforcement agencies, including the police and Border Force, new powers to investigate modern slavery offences at sea, including the power to stop, board, divert, detain and search a vessel, and to make arrests and seize any relevant evidence.

The Government is considering this issue very carefully.

We recently announced that we will modernise the licensing scheme for dog breeding and selling to improve the welfare of dogs, including requiring anyone breeding and selling three or more puppies in a twelve month period to hold a licence; prohibiting the sale of puppies under eight weeks’ of age; imposing tougher animal welfare standards on licensed dog breeders and sellers; and requiring all licensed sellers to include their licence number when advertising.

We aim to have the new regulations in place next year.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has accrued no income from premium rate telephone lines in the last five years.

The Government would prefer animals to be slaughtered close to the point of production, however, the unilateral banning of live animal exports would be illegal under EU free trade rules. Once the UK has left the EU, there will be the possibility to consider further measures in this area.

Core Defra did not make any payments to Uber for Business between 28 October 2016 and 21 February 2017.

Staff within Core Defra who claim expenses for taxis used for work-related travel are not required to specify the name of the taxi company they used. The Department’s finance system lists only two transactions between 28 October 2016 and 21 February 2017 where the traveller has identified that they used Uber. These transactions total £13.99.

Guidance was initially published by the Marine Management Organisation on 31 January 2017 to assist industry in understanding their obligations and the various requirements in respect of fishing for bass, as set out in Article 9 of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127. Letters are being sent to all commerical fishermen within England and Wales who, based on their catch track records, have authorisation to catch bass, and to those who do not have such authorisation.

To ensure compliance, the Marine Management Organisation will continue to engage with industry via regionally based staff to raise awareness of the rules, ensuring they are understood and individuals can access the right information easily. Where these rules are broken a proportionate and appropriate approach to enforcement action will be taken.

Union vessels using hook and line methods have a directed fishing provision after February and March if they have a verified track record of catches, but it should be noted that bass catches by UK vessels using that method have tended to peak during the summer months from July to September. The Government does not intend to extend the moratorium period that has been agreed at EU level. However, my Department will of course continue to consider any new scientific advice on the state of the bass stock and the need for appropriate conservation measures.

The Central Equine Database has been successfully tested with users. We will be piloting the database with Passport Issuing Organisations in March and expect it to be fully operational by summer 2017.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is working closely with the veterinary profession and livestock sectors to embed responsible use of antibiotics both in stewardship plans and within farm assurance scheme standards and also to set sector-specific targets for reducing antibiotic use by the end of 2017.

Following recommendations made by the Independent Review on AMR, Defra committed to a reduction of 20% in overall antibiotic use in farming by 2018. The most recent data from 2015 show that overall sales of antibiotics for use in livestock dropped by 10%. The government is also considering how future agricultural policy might incentivise high animal health and welfare systems of production.

GM foods and the crops they are derived from are subject to a robust safety assessment and will only be approved for release or marketing if they do not pose a serious risk to human health and the environment. The centralised EU assessment process is overseen by the European Food Safety Authority, with UK Ministers also receiving independent scientific advice on the environmental safety of GM crops from the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to be involved in or promote an animal fight. The maximum penalty for such an offence is six months’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or both. Offenders can also be banned from keeping or having any influence over the way animals are kept for anything up to life. The Government keeps maximum penalties under review and this includes sentencing trends, and whether there is any evidence that the courts may be finding their sentencing powers inadequate.

Alongside the much larger free nursery milk scheme for infants run by the Department of Health and the Department for Education, the EU School Milk Scheme plays a valuable role in encouraging consumption of dairy products and developing healthy eating habits from an early age.

A revised EU scheme will take effect on 1 August 2017. The UK expects to secure a budget of £3.6 million (€4.2 million) from the European Commission for the 2017-18 school year. This reflects actual scheme expenditure in the UK in recent years and is one of the largest allocations in the EU.

We have already briefed key stakeholders about the new scheme. In practice, there are very few substantive changes. We will consult on the detail of any changes to forms, guidance and scheme administration in the coming weeks.

It has been a long time coming, but the much needed building work for Helston College is due to start this September – yes really this September! Helston College was part of the successful bid to the Government by Cornwall Council to get much needed money for C-Block and other works. The many posts on this subject can be found HERE.

With the project moving forward, the school will undertake a series of engagement meetings with companies hoping to gain the contract for the new build. This contract will be hopefully awarded in April. At the end of April or early May, there will be public consultation as part of the planning process.

This is really exciting, and something I have pushed for since the previous disappointments. Details on what will be built are still being finalised, but a start date is fantastic.  Huge credit to the College Head, Governors and staff at Cornwall Council for never losing faith in getting this money.

The deputy PM, Head of Helston School, the former MP and me at the official announcement of the rebuild back in the day

Last week the prep work for installing two new goals on the Moors playing field was started. From this, Porthleven Town Council’s handyman, Phil and his apprentice (me) fitted and installed the goal posts today.

It was good to be able to use my community fund for this, as I know many will have fun and appreciate these new goal posts. Thank to Phil and the town council for paying for the extra materials needed for the installation. Thanks also to the group of parents who helped Phil and I lift the goals in place.

No sooner than we had finished, a group of boys started to play football using the goals.

Phil and his apprentice

Thursday’s Porthleven Town Council planning meeting was likely to be a busy one, and it was, with standing room only. The item residents came to voice their concern over as you can expect was the shipyard application.

These public objections were on the size and impact of the building; not in keeping with the historic fabric of Porthleven; highways; loss of boat yard facilities; parking and access on and from the slipway. The Porthleven Fishermen’s Association also made comment at the meeting about the negative impact on the boat owner and fishing community this building would have.

This application was never going to be an easy-one, as changes to an area on this scale never run smoothly. But change can and does happen. It just not at the expensive of other important areas.

For me, I very much welcome jobs in Porthleven and those which are different to the tourism sector. However it is important to understand how many job, the type of jobs and will they be new jobs or jobs that have been relocated from existing buildings. In answering my question, Trevor Osborne and his architect suggested between 50 and 100 jobs. Though there was no confirmation as to whether these were new jobs or relocated.

I am sure many would agree there could be much more use made out of the shipyard, but this has to be in balance with other aspects of Porthleven and this building should not harm those other important aspects of Porthleven including heritage, the landscape and existing jobs.

This application comes down to need against harm. Yes we need jobs in Porthleven and it is good someone actually wants to invest in Porthleven. However, as the plans stand, I am not yet satisfied this proposal would in fact be totally positive for Porthleven.

This size, scale and impact on the area is of huge importance as this building would in effect dominate this area and would also impact on the surrounding area, including many important historical views. You only have to look at this site from different position like Peverell Terrace, Breageside, Fore Street corner and Church Row to see this building would fundamentally change those views.

There is a total lack of parking provision for the building of this size and for the number of jobs. It is no more than 10 from the plans. Parking is important, and adequate parking must be provided. Without decent levels of parking, this building would just create problems elsewhere. It was suggested by the application that parking could be provided past Tolponds. This option is flawed as the site is far away and there is no footpath. The area is also in a 60 mph zone, and you really cannot have people walking on this road without a footpath. Of course a footpath could be built, but this is not simple due to the sheer costs of putting in a footpath and this footpath would have to cross land in multiple ownerships.

A really important issue is the loss of the bus stop as this current plan removes the well used bus stop and has not been replaced with any dedicated provision in the plans for a bus stop. There is  somewhat of a ‘waiting area’ but this is not a protective shelter. It would also conflict with possible use as a café as this space would leave people confused, and unsure if they could use it whilst waiting for a bus. This current bus stop is well-used, and therefore, it would have a negative effect on those using public transport if it was removed and not replaced.

This application raises some really serious highways concerns I do raise serious concerns. There is no turning space not only for large vehicles, but those with trailers/and boats. The road on Methleigh bottoms is narrow in this location, and the field of vision looking towards the harbour with a sharp bend is not clear. If large goods vehicles, boat trailers cannot access the yard, then there would be a temptation to back on the harbour head road. If this happens, this would cause congestion in the area and will have a knock-on up Fore Street. The proposed access in and out of the shipyard is also of major concern.

The impact to the boat owners and fishermen has to be taken into serious consideration; this includes access on to and from the slip. There will also be a lack of boat repair and storage facilities if this plan was approved in its current format. Porthleven is a harbour and ‘safe haven’ and it would be totally unacceptable for a harbour not to have these facilities.

I also very much dislike the ‘company blue’

The matter is this application has to be decided on what are the current plan, and not any further amendments which may come forward. As there is no guarantee any of these changes will be made if support is given. Therefore, in light of the concerns raised, Porthleven Town Council felt it could not support this application and voted unanimously to refuse the application.

From the town council’s decision, the application can be decided by Cornwall Council as it stands, or as I am hopeful, updated plans will be submitted for the town council and the public to make further comment on.

The Government has provided the police with a range of powers to tackle dog fighting effectively. Offences cover organising, advertising and taking monies relating to animal fights as well as the possession of equipment used to train dogs for dog fighting.

In addition, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes it an offence to possess certain types of dog that have been identified as bred for fighting or that are similar to types bred for fighting. The police work with the Special Operations Unit of the RSPCA to target illegal dog fighting rings by gathering intelligence and prosecuting those that are involved in dog fighting.

The police have not asked for additional funding to tackle dog fighting. The maximum penalties for animal welfare offences are kept under regular review. The Sentencing Council has very recently published revised magistrates’ court sentencing guidelines, including those in relation to dog fighting, with the aim of ensuring that the most serious cases of animal cruelty receive appropriately severe penalties within the available maximum penalty.