Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny of the proposed long-term targets to be set under section 1 of the Environment Act 2021 before the statutory instruments to give those targets legal effect are laid in October 2022.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The interim and long-term targets due to be set under the Environment Act will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Long-term targets will be set in statutory instruments subject to the affirmative procedure and our first suite of targets will be brought forward by 31 October 2022. Both Houses of Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise, debate and vote on the details and ambition of these targets.
We will be carrying out a public consultation on proposed long-term targets in early 2022. We will write to the chairs of the appropriate Select Committees in both Houses to update them before this launches.
Interim targets for the first suite of long-term targets will be included in the updated Environmental Improvement Plan, which be laid before both Houses of Parliament for scrutiny in early 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to engage Parliament in the scrutiny of the interim targets that will be set under section 11 of the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The interim and long-term targets due to be set under the Environment Act will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Long-term targets will be set in statutory instruments subject to the affirmative procedure and our first suite of targets will be brought forward by 31 October 2022. Both Houses of Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise, debate and vote on the details and ambition of these targets.
We will be carrying out a public consultation on proposed long-term targets in early 2022. We will write to the chairs of the appropriate Select Committees in both Houses to update them before this launches.
Interim targets for the first suite of long-term targets will be included in the updated Environmental Improvement Plan, which be laid before both Houses of Parliament for scrutiny in early 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of labour shortages in the ornamental horticulture sector on UK tree growers; and whether labour shortages in this sector will affect their ability to meet their tree planting targets.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The England Trees Action Plan (ETAP) sets out our long-term ambition to increase woodland creation and management in England. As part of this, we want to support a thriving nursery sector, and are working with them to upskill and expand our domestic workforce and monitor labour requirements.
Planting, establishing and managing trees in rural and urban settings requires skills, technical knowledge, and people to put those into practice. The ETAP includes support for higher technical and professional education routes into the forestry sector, improved links with allied sectors such as arboriculture, agriculture and horticulture, and the creation of a new Forestry Skills Action Plan for England that will raise the profile of forestry careers amongst school leavers and career changers.
The ETAP also committed to funding to support UK public and private sector nurseries and seed suppliers to enhance quantity, quality, diversity and biosecurity of domestic tree production through means including capital grants and support to augment investment and stimulate innovation.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) when they will publish their response to the consultation on the environmental principles draft policy statement, and (2) why their response to that consultation has been delayed.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We will publish the response to the consultation on the Environmental principles draft policy statement later in the year. We received 216 responses to the consultation and have been considering them carefully over the summer and alongside the passage of the Environment Bill.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many UK cities have adaptation plans to respond to the impacts of climate change.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
This information is not available. Quantifying adaptation plans in UK cities to respond to climate change impacts is a complicated and time-consuming process, and information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban oxo-degradable plastics.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government recognises that some innovative new packaging types, like biodegradables plastics, could help reduce the environmental impact of plastic, when used in niche applications and if disposed of in the right way. However, the Government is concerned that, in the absence of robust standards, claims about the biodegradability of plastic-based products cannot be verified.
The Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics, as well as to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. The Government response was published on the 8th April which can be found on gov.uk.
Following consideration of the submissions we received the Government is minded to introduce a ban on oxo-degradable plastics, subject to further evidence and a public consultation.