Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their intended timetable for (1) laying before the House, and (2) bringing into force, regulations under Schedule 17 to the Environment Act 2021; and why they have not already brought forward such regulations since that Act received Royal Assent.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government recognises the urgency of tackling deforestation globally and the important role the UK has internationally. It plans to consult later this year on the GB approach to deforestation. The proposed approach includes updating existing requirements under the UK Timber Regulation and introducing regulations under Schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021. It is expected that legislation to implement this regime will be laid in 2027, with a scheme coming into force in 2028.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential economic impact of the timing of UK forest risk commodity regulations on regulatory divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland following the application of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government announced the proposed UK approach to deforestation regulations in June and will consult on the approach in Great Britain later this year. To protect the UK internal market, the proposed Great Britain policy aims to operate alongside the EUDR. This Government also aims to achieve due diligence consistency for businesses working in both the UK internal market and EU single market.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings (1) Ministers, and (2) officials in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have held with (a) businesses, and (b) trade associations, on the design of regulations under Schedule 17 to the Environment Act 2021 since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government plans to consult later this year on the GB approach to deforestation, including on the design of regulations under Schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021. Defra has been continually engaging with businesses and trade associations in the run-up to consultation (including at least 5 meetings in 2025 and at least 17 meetings in 2026) and will continue close engagement to seek views and encourage responses from businesses and trade associations on our proposed approach.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to undertake a review of Israel’s compliance with international human rights law and, if so, what consideration would be given to the treatment of Palestinian children.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Further to my response of 8 December 2025 to the Noble Baroness's Question HL11828, we remain seriously concerned about the treatment of Palestinian children in detention, and we continue to raise the issue regularly with the Israeli authorities. On 22 June, the Minister for the Middle East also met with Save the Children to discuss our shared concerns.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with international partners on coordinated diplomatic efforts to secure an end to Israel's military detention of Palestinian children.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Further to my response of 8 December 2025 to the Noble Baroness's Question HL11828, we remain seriously concerned about the treatment of Palestinian children in detention, and we continue to raise the issue regularly with the Israeli authorities. On 22 June, the Minister for the Middle East also met with Save the Children to discuss our shared concerns.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards implementing the reforms to the rules for carriers, brokers and dealers set out in their Waste Crime Action Plan of 20 March.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Legislation has been laid to implement reforms to the carriers, brokers and dealers system as laid out in the waste crime action plan. The legislation will come into effect from summer 2027.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have with clearing the illegal waste dump on Bolton House Road, Bickershaw, near Wigan.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 14 May Defra officials visited the site and met with local partners and residents to discuss the clearance operation. Discussions focused on site logistics, access rights, the ability of the market to provide sufficiently specialist capability, management of the fire risk, and remediation of the site once it has been cleared. Defra and local partners will continue to work together to commence the clearance operation as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will introduce secondary legislation mandating the reform of the waste carrier, broker and dealer system before the prorogation of this Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are finalising the drafting of the necessary legislative amendments, and these will be progressed as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will introduce secondary legislation mandating digital waste tracking before the prorogation of this Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Subject to parliamentary time, we expect to introduce secondary legislation mandating digital waste tracking before the prorogation of this Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the treatment of a Palestinian child, Osaid Mahfouz, in Megiddo Prison, in particular in regard to severe medical neglect and poor hygiene conditions.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 13 October to Question 76963, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
The UK regularly raises our concerns about Palestinian children in detention with the Israeli authorities. We are clear that children must always be protected, and their rights upheld in accordance with international law. We are horrified by reports of mistreatment or abuse of Palestinian children in detention and call on the Israeli authorities to investigate these urgently and to ensure any perpetrators are held to account. Children must only be detained in line with internationally agreed juvenile justice standards or other applicable international law, and we call for an end to the military detention of Palestinian children where this is incompatible with those principles. We continue to call on Israel to immediately facilitate urgent, unhindered access to all child detainees from the West Bank and Gaza to persons providing legal assistance, the International Committee of the Red Cross and appropriate experts for the purposes of monitoring and reporting.