Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 publish a progress report on the roll-out of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are making good progress with the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. This year we have launched the Annual Health and Welfare Review for all eligible keepers, and uptake is growing steadily. We have also run a successful first round of the Animal Health and Welfare equipment and technology grant and will be launching our first large infrastructure grant for calf housing later this summer. Through continued and close working with our industry co-design partners we look forward to expanding the Pathway offer further to promote the production of healthier, higher welfare animals at a level beyond compliance with regulations.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 is taking to help support the refining capabilities of sustainable palm oil in the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting sustainable production, import and use of palm oil. The UK has a highly resilient edible oil refining sector, which crushes domestically grown oilseeds and refines many different types of oils, including sustainable palm oil, which are produced either in the UK or imported from overseas. The sector has coped well in responding to recent unprecedented challenges, including high energy prices and supply constraints due to geopolitical events.
Defra is working closely with the major refiners and their trade body, the Seed Crushers and Oil Processors Association, to understand the impacts of global events on supply chains and to provide an opportunity for the industry to discuss where any Government support may be needed.
We continue to work with industry, including with supermarkets and manufacturers, to support sustainable production and use of palm oil. In 2012, the Government established the UK Roundtable on Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil, bringing together key British businesses and supporting them to move to sustainable palm oil supply chains. In 2020 71% of palm oil and palm kernel oil imports into the UK were certified sustainable – up from 16% in 2010.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 is taking steps to help promote wildlife species native to (a) Australia, (b) New Zealand and (c) Canada in British zoos.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Zoo Licensing Act 1981 requires zoos provide information to the public about the species of wild animals kept in the zoo and their natural habitats. It is a matter for each zoo to decide what species of wild animal they wish to keep.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with Thames Water on the discharge of untreated sewage into waterways.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers and officials regularly meet with water companies to discuss a broad range of topics, including sewage discharges from storm overflows.
In February, the Secretary of State asked water and sewerage companies to set an action plan on every storm overflow in England, prioritising those that are spilling more than a certain number of times a year, and those spilling into bathing waters and high priority nature sites.
I hold a Ministerial Roundtable on the Thames Tideway Tunnel project twice a year to hear progress on the project and this is attended by Thames Water. Officials also regularly attend the Tideway Liaison Committee meeting, which is also attended by Thames Water, as well as having other informal meetings on the project direct with Thames Water.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 to increase detection of the discharge of sewage into waterways.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have increased the number of storm overflows monitored across the network from 7% in 2010 to 91% now monitored, and we will reach 100% cover by end of this year. In April, we launched our consultation on Continuous Water Quality Monitoring and Event Duration Monitoring. This outlines the government’s proposals to enhance the monitoring of storm overflow and final effluent discharges and to report on this in near-real time.
The Environment Agency has instructed water companies to install new flow monitors on more than 2,000 wastewater treatment works to identify what is happening at those works during the sewage treatment process itself.
The Environment Agency and Ofwat have recently launched the largest criminal and civil investigations into water company sewage discharges ever, at over 2200 treatment works, following new data coming to light as a result of increased monitoring.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 to monitor the effectiveness of police enforcement of the ban on live hunting under the Hunting Act 2004.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police. This is in line with their duties to keep the peace, protect communities and prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.
It is for individual Chief Constables to determine how their resources are deployed and it is for locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners to hold their forces to account. This includes consideration of how the police tackle the crimes that matter most to residents and businesses in rural and urban areas alike.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 Falkland Islands to maintain a healthy fishing stock in surrounding sovereign waters.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Falkland Islands Government is responsible for managing the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Falkland Islands, including managing fisheries in a way that maintains healthy fish stocks. Defra officials have a good working relationship with the Falkland Islands Government on issues of mutual interest, including the fishing occurring in international waters near to the Falkland Islands Exclusive Economic Zone.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 protect critically endangered species in the UK.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Legal protection for our most threatened native species is already provided by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulation 2017.
Defra is committed to taking action to recover our endangered native species. Through the Environment Act 2021, we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity in England : to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042; and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan published 31st January 2023.
Our new Environmental Land Management schemes will pay for sustainable farming practices, creating and preserving habitat such as woodland, heathland, and species-rich grassland, as well as making landscape-scale environmental changes, all of which support species recovery. Additionally, Natural England recently launched the Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme which will provide targeted funding to reversing the decline of England’s most threatened species.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 end the export of live animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There have been no exports of livestock for slaughter or fattening since 2020.
Exports of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats by sea to mainland Europe have not been viable since 1st January 2021, due to the lack of Border Control Post facilities designated to accept this trade in receiving EU Member States.
Whilst exports of equines have continued, this has been for the purpose of leisure, competition or breeding only; none have been exported for slaughter.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 is taking steps to help tackle the depletion of wildflowers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In England we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity including to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 then reverse declines by 2042 and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, such as wildflower meadows, also by 2042.
We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) published 31 January 2023. Here we link the different objectives, plans and mechanisms for recovering nature.
Our agri-environment schemes provide incentives for creation and management of wildlife-rich habitat. Since 2011, over 130,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, including wildflower meadows, have been created. Our new Environmental Land Management schemes will reward farmers and land managers for delivering environmental outcomes such as conserving and restoring such habitats.
Furthermore, our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) provide protection for many species-rich grasslands. Additional sites are included in Natural England’s designation programme published on GOV.UK. The EIP23 confirms our commitment to delivering the 25 Year Environment Plan goal to restore 75% of our SSSIs to favourable condition by 2042. It also sets two interim targets on protected sites which support the delivery of that 2042 goal and contribute to the achievement of statutory species targets.
We are supporting grassland creation and restoration, including through our Green Recovery Challenge Fund. For example, Plantlife’s ‘Meadow Makers’ project, which was awarded over £700,000 in the first round, has restored 500 hectares of species-rich grassland at over 100 sites across seven landscapes.