Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle the designer breeding of (a) brachycephalic cats, (b) bully cats, (c) hybrid cats and (d) other cats.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra commissioned the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to examine the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. The report can be found here. The Government is carefully considering its recommendations.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the total quantity of ash produced annually from the burning of biomass at the Drax power station.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The quantities of various waste streams produced at Drax are required to be reported to the Environment Agency using the national Pollution Inventory system. For 2024 the figure for ash from biomass was just over 300,000 tonnes.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that recycling labels are (a) clear and (b) readable for consumer plastic products.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to introducing mandatory recycling labelling for packaging. We are aiming to do this in 2028 once we have reviewed the potential to bring forward an approach that is consistent with the provisions being established under PPWR for the EU.
Analysis has been undertaken on the impact of recycling labels on the waste management system and we will update this analysis in our upcoming options and impact assessment for labelling regulations.
The Secretary of State has not yet had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the details of the labelling requirements as this is still to be developed following review of the EU equivalent regime.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in air weapon attacks on domestic animals; what steps he is taking to improve data collection of these incidents.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold data on cases of domestic animals being attacked with air weapons.
Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), it is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. Anyone who is cruel to an animal, or does not provide for its welfare, may be banned from owning animals. They may also face an unlimited fine, be sent to prison, or both.
The Government keeps animal welfare policy under review and is committed to ensuring that animals are protected from unnecessary suffering.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support local authorities in their efforts to identify and remove traces of toxic lead in soil.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Lead is a naturally occurring element in soils due to the weathering of rocks and minerals, and elevated concentrations can result from historical industrial activity. The Government recognises the importance of managing land contamination to protect human health and the environment. Under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities have a statutory duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land.
Defra supports local authorities in fulfilling their duties through the Contaminated Land Statutory Guidance, which sets out the legal framework for risk assessment and decision-making under Part 2A. In addition, the Land Contamination Risk Management (LCRM) framework, recently updated by the Environment Agency, provides technical guidance on assessing, managing and remediating land contamination in line with current best practice.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the sugar beet industry in South Suffolk constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting and promoting growth in the UK sugar beet industry, including in South Suffolk. For example: we are funding research into crop resilience and sustainable practices through the Farming Innovation Programme. The Government continues to work with industry stakeholders to ensure fair market conditions and is monitoring challenges faced by the industry.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote growth in the UK sugar beet industry.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting and promoting growth in the UK sugar beet industry, including in South Suffolk. For example: we are funding research into crop resilience and sustainable practices through the Farming Innovation Programme. The Government continues to work with industry stakeholders to ensure fair market conditions and is monitoring challenges faced by the industry.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme on the natural environment in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Agriculture is a devolved policy area, and the Sustainable Farming Incentive is an England-only scheme. There is therefore no impact on farmers in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the ban on hunting trophy imports (a) is robust and (b) does not allow any hunting trophies to enter the UK.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government committed to banning the import of hunting trophies in its manifesto and we will deliver on this. Defra continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban on the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern in the most effective way.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Marine Management Organisation is taking to ensure that cumulative impacts of offshore developments are properly assessed in relation to fisheries.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has two roles involved in assessments of offshore developments in two parts:
For marine licences we undertake consultation including a public consultation as part of the assessment process. This can involve consultation with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) as our scientific advisors who provides comments on the impacts to fishing and fish and shellfish ecology. The public consultation period allows anyone to provide comments on the impacts of the development. Through the Regional Fisheries Groups (RFGs), marine licensing applications with potential to significantly impact fishing activities within 12 nautical miles are shared with the inshore fishing sector at consultation stage to improve visibility and ensure potential impacts are considered by the fishing industry.
The MMO also has a mapping system that highlights the fishing effort, fish ecology and other developments within the area of the proposed development and makes all decisions in line with the Marine Plan(s) for the area the development is in, and the applicant must submit a full assessment of their impact against the plan. All this information is used to make a decision on the impacts of the project on fisheries to make a positive determination on the project.
For NSIP projects the MMO reviews the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which includes Fish and Shellfish Ecology and Commercial Fisheries chapters. MMO provides comments on these and highlights the areas that are subject to spatial squeeze, areas including species or habitat type that may be impacted by developments. MMO also consults the Cefas as our scientific advisors who also provides comments on the impacts to fishing and fish and shellfish ecology. In addition, MMO asks developers to ensure updates to documents are made in relation to any fisheries comments from other interested parties. It is for the Secretary of State for each application to decide on the impacts of fishing and if the project needs any restrictions or additional information.
The MMO is taking further steps to ensure the data we have is used to provide detailed up to date knowledge of the potential cumulative impacts from offshore development. All data from offshore developments is being included on the marine data exchange, managed by The Crown Estate.