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.

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.

Defra is committed to offering job applicants who are ex-offenders equal and fair opportunities. This commitment is supported through membership and operation of the Business in the Community ‘Ban the Box’ scheme. Following the principles in this scheme, appropriate pre-appointment checks, including a basic criminal record check, are not made until later in the recruitment process.

However, Defra does not retain details centrally that would allow us to identify employees with unspent convictions so the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Leaving the EU provides us with an opportunity to redesign our agricultural policy so that it works for the UK, making farming more profitable, competitive and environmentally sustainable.

Defra officials are currently undertaking analysis on future implications for farming. To support this, we will be holding a series of events in the coming months to hear as many views as possible across the country.

Any commercial buyers that source fish directly from the fishing industry must be registered, comply with the obligation to submit to the UK authorities a sales note, identifying the specific vessel that caught the fish, and must comply with ongoing requirements on traceability. Failure to comply with these obligations constitutes as a criminal offence that includes an unlimited fine.

Defra is committed to offering job applicants who are former offenders equal and fair opportunities. This commitment is supported through membership and operation of the Business in the Community ‘Ban the Box’ scheme. Following the principles in this scheme, appropriate pre-appointment checks, including a basic criminal record check, are not made until later in the recruitment process.

However, Defra does not retain details centrally that would allow us to identify former-prisoners so the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The intention, as I understand it, is to extend the maximum term of the lease from 31 years to 150 years, and several leases may be granted, as the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West pointed out—there could be several leases on different properties. The crucial thing, however, is that in my reading of the Bill, to answer the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for The Cotswolds, the grant would be for a lease of a maximum term of 150 years in the normal way of other leases. My hon. Friend also asked whether, in 150 years’ time, that could be considered again and a future Minister 150 years from now could decide to grant a new 150-year lease. I do not see anything in the Bill to prohibit that. The crucial thing, however, is the maximum, which is 31 years but will move to 150 years, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State at the time.

If the hon. Gentleman will allow me to intervene again, I can perhaps deal with that point. As the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for North Tyneside, pointed out, we have given quite a generous spending review settlement to Kew, with increases in resource and capital spend. This proposal will release additional funds to help it invest in its estate. It comes on top of what is already quite a generous settlement for the spending review period.

Perhaps I can add some clarity. We are aware that there are approximately six properties around Kew Green that are part of the Kew Gardens estate, some of which are rented. Some are, I understand, in a state of disrepair, so they need to be renovated. Those are the types of property that could be brought back in under a different lease and generate a better income stream than is currently possible.

To answer a point that was raised earlier, Kew Gardens itself does not have a lease; it operates under ministerial direction and occupies Crown land, so that is a different matter. The Bill is about giving Kew trustees the ability to grant leases, subject to approval by Ministers, to other parties for a period of up to 150 years.