Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of fluorinated gases during the planned transition to alternative gases.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is consulting on proposed reforms to the GB hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown. The consultation closes on 17 December, and the Department will be carefully considering the responses.
The consultation and accompanying De Minimis Assessment outline our modelling assumptions on HFC availability. We have asked respondents to provide feedback on those assumptions.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the horticultural industry's transition to peat-free growing media.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government plans to legislate for a ban on the sale of peat and peat containing products when parliamentary time allows. This commitment is embedded within our Carbon Budget planning and, most recently, reflected in the latest iteration of the Environmental Improvement Plan.
We are working with the industry to develop peat-free fresh produce roadmaps, and we are continuing to support research and development, such as that being undertaken as part of the Royal Horticultural Society's Transition to Peat-Free Fellowship.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the change in the tonnage of (a) recycled and (b) incinerated waste between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The most comprehensive waste treatment data Defra hold for the period from 2019 to 2024 cover the management of local authority collected waste in England for the financial years 2018/19 to 2023/24. The data are available in the Local authority collected waste management - annual results - GOV.UK publication.
Over this period, the total tonnage of waste collected by local authorities has fallen by 534,000 tonnes, from 25.6 million tonnes in 2018/19 to 25.1 million tonnes in 2023/24. Tonnages of waste recycled have fallen by 560,000 tonnes, while tonnages of waste sent for incineration with energy recovery have increased by 1.5 million tonnes and tonnages incinerated without energy recovery have fallen by 88,000 tonnes.
Data are available on the final treatment of all waste in the UK in the UK statistics on waste - GOV.UK publication, the most recent data are for 2020. Equivalent England-level data are also available for 2022 in the same publication. Both the UK and England data sets are updated biennially.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding the Government has allocated to a) implement the Local Nature Recovery Strategy in Berkshire for financial year 2025-2026 and b) what proportion of that funding is assigned for delivery in West Berkshire.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As responsible authority for the Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council has been allocated £135,500 in financial year 2025-26 to support their transition to delivery of their LNRS. Government has not prescribed how this funding will be distributed geographically within the area covered by the LNRS.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to require planning authorities to publish annual reports on how off-site Biodiversity Net Gain contributions by developers have been a) spent, b) their location, and c) ecological result of habitat d) creation or e) restoration.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Act 2021 established a strengthened biodiversity duty, which requires local planning authorities to publish a biodiversity report at least every five years, setting out how they have complied with the duty. As part of this report, local planning authorities are required to include actions they have taken under biodiversity net gain obligations, and information from the biodiversity gain plans they have approved. The first reporting period must end no later than 1 January 2026 with reports published within 12 weeks.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to prevent UK companies from sell and profit from hunts, in addition to banning trophy hunters.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern, which is the most effective approach the Government can take on this matter. The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing in vicarious liability for landowners to reduce grouse shooting.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The introduction of new regulation, such as vicarious liability, requires evidence that it will be effective. Vicarious liability occurs where one person can be held liable for the actions of another person. With regards to grouse shooting, this could mean a manager or employer would be held criminally liable for an unlawful act perpetrated by a member of their staff, for example the unlawful killing of birds of prey. Vicarious liability for such acts has been introduced in Scotland but so far there is no compelling evidence to show that its introduction has had a significant deterrent effect on those who persecute wildlife.
We will continue to monitor the situation in Scotland to consider whether vicarious liability is a necessary and proportionate approach in tackling wildlife crime in England.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she can name a date by which her department will have made a decision on Stoke-on-Trent City Council's proposals to reduce Nitrous Oxide levels at the A500/Etruria Road junction.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has recently discussed with Stoke-on-Trent City Council a decision on their proposals to address nitrogen dioxide levels at Etruria Road. As the Minister for Water and Flooding, I have also recently discussed the position with the hon. Member. We will continue to engage with the local authority on next steps.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed SESRO reservoir on the environment of the Thames Valley.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Assessments to understand the potential impacts of SESRO have been developed by Thames Water, working with environmental regulators, as part of the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) gated planning process ahead of formal planning stages. For SESRO to proceed it will need to obtain a Development Consent Order as well as environmental permits. Through the Development Consent Order process, a full environmental impact assessment will be required to understand all environmental impacts from the scheme and to identify mitigation needed to protect the environment through both construction and operational phases. The Environment Agency (EA), along with other environmental regulators, is a statutory consultee for the process. Environmental assessments will also be required for any permits needed for the scheme, for which the EA is a regulator.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered alternative water supply schemes to the proposed SESRO reservoir in the Thames Valley.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The need for SESRO has been determined through statutory Water Resources Management Plans which are developed by water companies to show how they will manage supply and demand for the next 25 years. Water company plans adopted the outputs of the Regional Plan developed by Water Resources South East Water which appraised over 2400 options to meet water demand in the region. This included reservoirs, transfers, recycling schemes, new and redeveloped sources. All available options were compared through best value modelling, and SESRO was selected as a preferred option for the southeast and included in Thames Water’s Water Resources Management Plan.