Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - 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 carbon footprint of water desalination plants in England.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The carbon footprint of water supply schemes is an integral factor for water companies in considering how future water demand should be met. The water industry has made net zero commitments by 2030, and the Government has ensured that Water Resources Management Plans (WRMP), which outline water company proposals for new supplies and demand reduction measures, describe how all measures contribute to company and Government net zero commitments.
Water demand is growing due to climate change, the need for drought resilience, population growth and to address unsustainable abstraction. Where water companies have planned new desalination plants, they have shown that the scheme is part of a best value plan for society. This includes assessment balancing the costs, carbon footprint, environmental impacts and social benefits of all potential alternatives for increasing water supply and reducing demand. Regulators have scrutinised WRMPs and are satisfied that only best value schemes have been proposed that meet the challenges facing water supplies.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) documentary checks on, (b) physical checks on, (c) foreign supplier verification checks on and (d) rejections of consignments imported with a catch certificate validated by China were undertaken under the Sea Fishing (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing) Order 2009 in 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
This information is not held centrally by the Government.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Action Alliance has made; and what representations the UK has made at the Alliance since the Our Ocean conference in Panama in March 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The UK Government is a founder member of the IUU Action Alliance, and as its current chair and secretariat the UK works closely with its partners globally to ensure the Alliance’s long-term success. The Alliance now contains 11 members with 9 supporters, with an ambitious work programme agreed by its members.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
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 protect stocks of sand eels in English North Sea waters.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra is presently preparing its response to the public consultation on the future management of sandeels in English waters of the North Sea. I am grateful to everyone who responded. A summary of responses is here: Summary of responses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). I will announce my decision shortly.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
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 consolidation in the veterinary sector on veterinary costs for pet owners.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra considers the establishing and an agreement of fees to be a private agreement between the vet and the client. If unsatisfied the client can take their custom elsewhere; thus setting the market in which the veterinary business has to compete. The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK's principal competition authority, responsible among other things for enforcing the law against anti-competitive practices, and investigating mergers that could reduce competition.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will estimate the number and proportion of dogs that are not microchipped; and what steps she is taking to help reduce that number.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Around 10% of dogs in the UK are not microchipped (PDSA, PAW Report 2022). Under the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015 it is an offence to not microchip a dog. The Government works with stakeholders to remind the public of this legal requirement and the benefits of microchipping.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps through the World Trade Organisation to help restrict the size of the Chinese distant water fleet and its impact on fish stocks.
Answered by Mark Spencer
WTO Members reached a landmark agreement at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference to prohibit the most harmful fisheries subsidies contributing to Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing, the fishing of overfished stocks, and fishing on the high seas. Members also committed to continue negotiations on prohibiting subsidies contributing to overfishing and overcapacity. The agreement will help improve the health of global fish stocks and the sustainable blue economy. This is also the first WTO agreement specifically addressing environmental sustainability, hopefully setting a precedent for future agreements of this kind. All members, including China, are now in the process of ratifying the agreement.