Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - 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 impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on (1) legal protections for European protected species, and (2) the population of such protected species in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Nature is in need of our help. We have been clear about the importance of environmental protection across the United Kingdom, not least through our world leading Environment Act, which sets a new legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and we are developing an extensive policy programme to deliver that.
In reviewing retained EU law, Defra’s aim is to ensure that environmental law is fit for purpose and able to drive improved environmental outcomes, whilst also ensuring regulators can deliver efficiently. This will ensure the UK regulatory framework is appropriate and tailored to the UK. The Government has been clear that any changes to REUL will not have the effect of reducing the levels of environmental protection.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of investing water company fines into improving waterways.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On Wednesday 30th November we announced we will be channelling money from water company fines into schemes to improve the environment. The announcement is available on .gov.uk at the webpage here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/water-company-fines-to-be-channelled-into-environmental-improvements.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to legislate to make provision for snakes in captivity to be kept in containers of at least one snake length.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Snakes are provided protection under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This means that it is an offence to cause them any unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for their welfare needs.
In England, the keeping of snakes in captivity, outside of zoos, is currently regulated by the Animal Welfare (Licencing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (LAIA). These Regulations require any business selling animals as pets - including snakes - to be licensed. Local authorities are responsible for granting these licences, and the licences must include a general condition requiring licensees to keep all animals in an environment suitable to their species and condition. The statutory guidance to local authorities contains details in relation to the minimum welfare standards that are considered appropriate for snakes, including minimum requirements relating to vivarium size.
The statutory five-year LAIA Post-Implementation Review (PIR) is due by October 2023. As part of this review, we will be seeking views and considering evidence on the minimum standards for the size of temporary vivaria for snakes in pet selling establishments.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support farmers who (1) improve water quality, and (2) reduce flooding.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Farmers and land managers have an important role to play in reducing the risk of flooding and coastal erosion to both rural and urban areas. As well as protecting more than 300,000 homes, the 2015-2021 £2.6bn flood investment programme reduced the risk of flooding to nearly 600,000 acres of agricultural land. The 2021-27 capital programme will offer increased protection to approximately 370,000 acres of agricultural land.
Current offers to support farmers include the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme, which supports farmers to improve water quality and manage flood risk through a range of grants and advice from Catchment Sensitive Farming. Grants to improve water quality include buffer strips that help reduce the risk of pollutants being transported to watercourses and capital grants to reduce run off of dirty water. Support to manage flood risk include grants to control runoff and make space for water.
We are also introducing our new Environmental Land Management schemes, that reward environmental benefits, including water quality and protection from environmental hazards like flooding.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing improved product labelling to stop items that are unable to be flushed from blocking sewers.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are considering various options to tackle the issues from commonly littered items, following our call for evidence. These options include a ban on the sale of wet wipes containing plastic, a mandatory ‘flush-ability’ standard, mandatory labelling on packaging, and an extended producer responsibility scheme for wipes containing plastic. We will publish an update on the responses to this call for evidence in due course.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to designate more inland bathing water sites.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Bathing waters are designated through an application process, as set out in the regulations. Local authorities, groups and individuals can apply for sites to be designated.
Defra has written to the Chief Executive of every local authority in England and other key stakeholders such as swimming associations to signpost the application process.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all new homes have sustainable drainage systems.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that when determining planning applications in areas at risk of flooding, planning authorities should ensure priority is given to the use of sustainable drainage systems. There is an expectation that sustainable drainage systems will be provided in all new major developments, unless demonstrated to be inappropriate.
It is the responsibility of those carrying out building work to comply with the Building Regulations. Part H of the Building Regulations and its associated guidance Approved Document H, gives guidance on how any work done can comply with the building regulations around safely installing waste disposal systems.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which minister in the Home Office has responsibility for victims of modern slavery within the UK.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Modern Slavery is a complex issue, with links to crime, safeguarding and immigration.
Therefore, as set out on gov.uk, the Minister of State for Immigration, The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick, will have responsibility for aspects of the policy which link to the National Referral Mechanism and migration.
The Safeguarding Minister, Sarah Dines, leads on victim support policy across all crime types, as well as the Home Office relationship with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the key programmes that will enable delivery of the targets under the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out in a written statement published on 28th October, we will continue to work at pace in order to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable.
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) sets out the steps HM Government intends to take to improve the natural environment. The EIP will be reviewed to include an overview of delivery measures needed to meet targets and at least one interim target for each long-term target that has been set.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will bring forward the legislation for targets under the Environment Act 2021 prior to the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in December.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out in a written statement published on 28th October, we will continue to work at pace in order to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable.
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) sets out the steps HM Government intends to take to improve the natural environment. The EIP will be reviewed to include an overview of delivery measures needed to meet targets and at least one interim target for each long-term target that has been set.